Only in a Dragon's Dream
by Shakly
Summary: Taking a stroll in the lushious forest illuminated by the moon, Miku's thoughts are interrupted as she comes across a woman in need of being rescued. Little would Miku know that she wouldn't be rescuing just any woman, but one out of her world. Ultimately a fluffy angsty negitoro story but with dragons. Miku x Luka, mentions of Kaito x Meiko.
1. Chapter 1 - When The Woods Call

**A/N**

**There probably won't be any A/Ns in the future, please take a few seconds to read this one.** **English is not my first language, but I am very good at it. I proof-read my chapters through and through. Still, you might come across mistakes, if you do, feel free to tell me.**

**This is also my first fanfiction, I've written stories before though.**

**With that in mind, please criticize me, it is much appreciated and it will ultimately help me make this a better reading experience for everyone.**

**Art on the cover and potential illustrations all belong to me.**

**There will be cursing and moderate violence. (presumably)**

**This story is available on Wattpad and Fanfiction .net**

**Please enjoy!**

\--

_What a dream._

_To become a singer? How ridiculous._ Miku had to have solid ground to stand on before anything as far-fetched as that could even be considered a possible source of income.

Miku had been living all alone in an apartment for half a year now. High School had not been kind to her, she barely had time to work, let alone enjoy her hobbies whilst keeping her grades up. The money she made wasn't nearly enough to pay for the apartment on her own, but her father always lent her money when she needed it. Miku came to the lively city she lived in now to be able to attend Crypton High, though this all ended up costing a lot more than she had expected. Miku was determined to start getting enough income to keep herself going even without the help of her father or a roommate to cut expenses with though. She deemed it was worth it just so she could live alone as she highly despised hanging around people. It was summer break now, which meant no school, which in return meant she could finally get a well-paying job. She just had to believe in herself and stay positive and everything would work out fine. _Right?_

Miku sighed and leaned back on her chair, her long teal twintails falling back and an empty document glaring at her from the screen of her laptop. She had gotten lost in thought again. Miku always struggled to focus on things, but it was especially bad when it came to such irritating things like paying rent or writing a CV.

_I'm just wasting time._

Frustrated, Miku slowly stood up, closed her laptop and grabbed her coat as well as her phone and keys. It was already dark and cold out, but she needed fresh air and the full moon seemed so welcoming to her. Having put on her long brown boots, she exited the apartment and locked her door. She began walking down the stairs from the second floor and fetched a small pack of cat treats from the back pocket of her black jeans. Now on the ground floor, she creaked open the heavy door of the building and immediately felt a breeze graze her skin. It sent a shudder down her spine, but she didn't let it bother her. She looked over one of the parking lots and couldn't help but grin. There, stood a dark chopper with teal and red highlights.

_"It reminded me of you,"_ her dad had said, having bought the motorcycle on impulse like he usually did. Miku was not happy with how much money her father spent on unnecessary things, but she could never deny how happy she'd been in that moment. Up until then, she had been driving a crappy motorbike that insulted the definition of "top speed". She just didn't have time to get a driver's license for a car, but she wasn't complaining. She didn't need to drive around often enough for that anyway. The first time Miku drove with her new comrade had been magical and the two shared many other beautiful memories. Since it was summer now too, she'd finally be able to drive around the countryside again, something she missed a lot. Realizing that she was getting lost in thought yet again, Miku walked towards some bushes and called out.

"Noir!"

Not a second passed when Miku could already hear something moving in the leaves. A black cat appeared before her shortly afterwards. Miku had quickly formed a bond with this stray cat when she moved in, but to her dismay, pets were not allowed in her apartment, though she'd be lying if she said she hadn't snuck him in a couple of times.

Not allowing herself to linger around for much longer, Miku pet Noir, gave him a treat and continued on her walk as she shoved the pack of treats back in her pocket.

Miku was extremely happy to have been able to rent a flat in a building like that. Not only was it close to Crypton High, it was also a mere five minute walk away from a forest - a place she started to visit whenever she had time for it. Nothing helped her relax more than a wooded area with a thin soothing river, filled to the brim with all kinds of gorgeous greenery, and of course - being all alone amongst it all. Miku had seen only one or two people in this forest before, except for bugs and occasional wildlife, she got to enjoy upmost solitude.

\--

The forest seemed to glow as it was illuminated by the full moon, though the particles in the air remained unnoticed by Miku despite being shone onto. She walked the path surrounded by trees, just barely out of the city bounds. She enjoyed the fresh night air touching her bare skin and the water of the river running along a bit further away from the path shimmering. No matter how many times she would come here, it would still feel breathtaking, Miku was sure of it. The atmosphere here swept her head completely clear of all her worries and thoughts, leaving her mind blank, which felt a hell of a lot nicer than she would've thought before she started coming here. Not thinking of anything at all was a much preferred state of mind for her, she was tired of the inconviniences life kept throwing at her. She was still surprised that she didn't think of coming to this part of the area earlier than she did, even though she had been coming here for so long that she'd notice if even just a single tree would've shifted in its position.

That state of mind was unfortunately interrupted as Miku heard something heavy hit water, making a large splash. She stood still as if frozen in time. She wanted to move, but it was only hearing someone struggle in the water that sent her into action. Miku instantly turned towards the noise and upon seeing a person in the water struggling to stay afloat, she bolted over there to help.

"I'm coming! Help!!"

she yelled, hoping to get the attention of any other possible people nearby, though she was sure nobody else was here since nobody really came here at daytime much less in the dead of night, she should know. Stopping at the edge of the river, Miku realized that the person wasn't too far from the shore and reached out her hand with one foot in the water.

"Grab my hand!"

Miku wasn't even sure if the person was aware of her being there. She shifted herself forward, both feet in water now, though she had to be careful for she knew how steep this river was, having slipped into the debts of it several times before for one reason or another. Miku stretched her arm as far as she could, but the person seemed to be in too much of a panic to notice her efforts at all.

Miku decided to jump right in after quickly removing her coat, as she knew it could drag her down. With the sound of another big splash, Miku was in the water, quickly grasping that her feet couldn't touch the ground, but that's what she had expected. She grabbed the person by the arm, realizing now that she had no idea how to get this person to the shore fast enough, grabbing one of her arms made the girl panic more too and Miku took note of just how heavy this person actually was as she was dragged underwater several times. The shore wasn't far however and Miku managed to move both of them to it. She immediately brought the hand of the person to the grassy area, which she hastily grabbed onto with both her arms, raising her head, her long pink hair completely soaked and covering her face as she desperately gasped for air.

As the girl, or rather the woman judging by her weight and body, took her time to recover, Miku had already climbed out and despite being out of breath too, took both of the person's hands and dragged her almost completely onto the shore.

"You okay?"

Miku asked with what little breath she had, but the rescued woman was quiet, so she decided to let her rest a bit.

Miku's vision cleared and because of no longer being in danger, she started noticing how odd this woman looked right now. The woman seemed to be naked, but covered in strange pink and shale feathers. What grasped her attention however was the blood streaming down one of her sides.

"You're hurt!"

Miku reached her hand out to brush away the feathers from the woman's back to see where exactly the wound was, but she was mortified to find that she couldn't. Her hand froze and she shook her head, thinking it was just her imagination. She tried again, but the feathers did not move, they were attached to this woman.

"W-what the hell?"

She looked over the woman once more, noting that a line of feathers ran down her spine and around her waist, almost like a skirt. She also had feathers on her chest, arms and legs, as far as Miku could tell.

The woman started to get up, interrupting Miku's train of thought. The person Miku just saved gave her a quick glance and then her body started to morph. It grew bigger and more feathered by the second. Miku, confused and terrified, stood up lightning fast and half-run backwards as not to be crushed by the mass in front of her. _What the heck is she?_ She thought to herself, wanting nothing more than to ensure her own safety, but she stumbled and fell with a pained yell. She was about to get up, however-

Everything seemed to stop. The night was as quiet as ever, Miku could only hear the faltering breaths escaping her own lips. The moon illuminated the two beings near the shore, one human, the other not so much. A pair of piercing lightning blue eyes stared into Miku's, keeping her captive and she was afraid to move even an inch. The being before her stood completely still, it's body just barely moving as a result of breathing and it's feathers gently swaying in the breeze. It showed no sign of wanting to let Miku go and continued glaring at her, though if this creature was hostile, why hadn't it attacked already? Miku continued to question the situation, trying her best to calm down. Perhaps the creature would loosen up if Miku was less tense, _this thing would be able to sense something like that, right? Like a predatory animal?_

With that thought, Miku started to put together what this thing even was. Absolutely nothing about it looked human anymore, except for maybe its eyes, but Miku couldn't focus on them for too long without being distracted by immense fear. The creature was almost tall enough to reach the trees, Miku was merely the size of its leg. It was like a four-legged bird, maybe like a griffon? Miku was scared to find that it seemed to have very sharp claws. It's neck was quite long, bent downwards so the creature's eyes were able to meet Miku's. It's mouth seemed to resemble somewhat of a beak and it had horns on the sides of it's head, along with long darker pink feathers near one of her shoulders. The shale feathers on its back covered at least half of its body. The tail reached into water so Miku wasn't sure how long it was. Finally, still trying not to move or anger the creature, Miku eyed it's large feathered wings - four of them in fact. The tealette now had a basic idea of this beast, but that didn't help her situation one bit.

The creature blinked slowly and it's feathers, which were all perked up to make itself look bigger, retracted closer to the body. It's eyes were no longer narrow or hostile. Miku felt relieved, but suddenly the creature opened it's wings and went up in the air in a mere moment, sending countless leaves and feathers to fall on top of Miku, as well as something else - bits of blood.

Though terrified by what just happened, Miku stood up and ran after the creature, trying to make out it's silhouette in the sky, but something was off. With a pained roar, the creature plummeted right back onto the ground further from Miku, causing the ground beneath her feet to shake upon impact.

Miku thought about running, but how could she? She was the only one here and she'd never forgive herself if she didn't try to find out about what the hell was happening. This could all be a dream for all she knew. She put her coat back on and started to run towards the struggling being.

Miku had to be careful as she drew closer. The creature was moving around franctically and slamming its tail onto the ground violently whilst getting back up, but falling again because of having stood on one of its own wings. As it wriggled around desperately, more blood continued to stream down from somewhere around her back. All rationality was suddenly gone, Miku could only think of wanting to help the poor creature. She ran over, grabbed the head of the large being and held it as close to her body as she could, as she had no idea what else she could've done in the situation she managed to get herself into.

_What am I doing? What am I doing!?_

To her surprise, Miku managed to hold onto the desperate creature. Opening her eyes which were squeezed shut until now, she eyed the being, who was remarkably calmer.

In the dead of night, sitting in a forest and not daring to let go of the beast, she couldn't even hear her own heavy breathing as the creature beside her gasped for air, so much so that those breaths Miku felt on her body seemed comparable to wind. The feathers of the beast moved along with the creature's deep breaths, all ruffled up and swaying in a satisfying manner as a breeze continued to graze them. Miku couldn't believe that this thing had been a human just a few minutes ago. Thinking about this, Miku had to try something.

"You okay?"

No answer. Then again, how was it going to talk with half a beak for a mouth?

"Do you understand me? At all?"

Still no response. Miku came to the conclusion that this thing didn't understand anything despite what she had hoped. Miku came to another conclusion as well - this was a dragon. It still reminded her of a Griffon, but the general body, tail and wings had a very dragon-esc vibe to them. This thought alone made another shiver go down her spine.

Regaining focus however, the tealette realized the 'dragon' had closed its eyes, its breaths much slower and quieter now.

Sighing deeply, the reality of the situation came crashing back in. It was past midnight, Miku had just managed to save a woman from drowning and now there was a dragon resting its head in her lap.

She had just saved a woman from drowning and now there was a dragon.

A dragon.

It kept repeating over and over again in her head. _A dragon!? _Miku was certain at this point, that this was not a dream, but how could it not be? There was a dragon in her lap!

She carefully set the creature's head on the soft grass below, as it seemed to be sound asleep now. Having done that, the tealette quietly walked over to where the wound was. Thankfully the beast wasn't resting on its bad side. Examining the wound which fortunately wasn't bleeding as much anymore, Miku tried her best to figure out what the best course of action would be. The dragon must've been exhausted to have managed to fall asleep with that big of a gash in its body, but it'd probably wake up if Miku poked at it even slightly. The feathers covered everything, but judging by the blood Miku knew the wound was big, way too big for her to be able to patch up, not with what she had right now anyway. If only this thing was still human...

Eventually Miku gave up on trying to think of another solution as she really didn't have a choice. She took off her coat, shivering immediately in the cold night air, and put it up against the gash as gently as humanly possible so as to not wake the sleeping dragon. Seeing or hearing no change in the creature's breathing, she pressed the coat against the injured area bit by bit until deciding that it was enough. This was barely going to help the dragon, but it somewhat helped to stop the bleeding and at the very least Miku felt like she had done all she could do.

_What now?_ Would she just go home now? Would she really give up her coat, even if it seemed so unimportant considering the situation she was in? Coming up with an idea, she picked up her phone which she had set on the ground when taking off her coat once more.

She went ahead and dialed "911" but didn't press the call button. Suddenly, it seemed like a very bad idea. It's not like she'd get into trouble, but what would they do with this thing? There was no way the situation would end well for the dragon. At the same time... Miku wouldn't really be able to give this thing the help it needed, unless it transformed back into a human, but still she didn't trust anyone else to do it either.

With a sorrowful expression, she closed her phone and set it back onto the ground. She herself laying down relatively close to the dragon since that was the only way she could keep herself warm for the night.

Why was she staying the night? With a dragon no less?

She didn't know.


	2. Chapter 2 - an Oddity to Care for

Chirping birds, noisy bugs, flowing water...

The sounds slowly manifested in Miku's mind as she came to her senses. The sun was already shining brightly. The tealette let out a slight grunt because of having slept on such a rough surface. She sat up only to find piercing aqua eyes staring into hers.

Miku shrieked for a split second before covering her mouth, quickly remembering who the dragon before her was. To her dismay, she was not quick enough and the creature flinched, its pupils contracting as if facing danger. Miku watched in terror before squinting her eyes shut, tears threatening to spill as she tried to prepare herself for whatever the dragon would do to her now, she didn't doubt that it could kill her within seconds.

Regaining courage after what felt like an eternity, Miku carefully opened her eyes again. The blue eyes were still there - they were still staring right into hers. This time however, they held no fear, anger or malicious intent. Miku couldn't think of a better way to describe them but as... hopeful.

Her body started to move on its own - loosening up and reaching out her hand, wanting to make sure that the dragon was really there. Miku was sure the creature could read the fear from her eyes. Just as she thought that, the dragon moved its massive head forward, eliminating the empty space between its snout and Miku's hand. Miku stared in awe, her eyes filling with wonder. She was really there. This can't be a dream, can it?

Then, contrary to anything Miku would've expected, the dragon began to shrink. She quickly realized that it was just like yesterday, when it had transformed from a woman into a dragon, but the other way around. In pure shock she was unable to let go of the beast before her. Feeling the feathers morph into pale skin felt weird yet mesmerizing, same goes for the strange way her pink feathers transformed into long silky hair with her face soon revealing human-like properties.

Miku remained stuck in that weird moment even though the transformation was long done. The two blue eyes were now human and they kept the tealette's gaze captivated just like before. As Miku slowly came back to reality, she took in the sight before her and removed her hand from the person's face in an instant, embarrassed at what she was doing to a stranger - a stranger who had been a dragon just a minute ago no less! Or perhaps several minutes - Miku had no idea how long they had been sitting there and staring at each other.

Still fearful of what the woman could potentially do, Miku retracted a little further, her eyes still wide and mouth still gaping. The person before her was covered in the same kind of feathers as when Miku had saved her from the river. She could also see horns poking out of her hair, though they were barely noticeable.

"W-what are you?"

Miku whimpered, her voice unusually sore, still hoping that she could somehow communicate with her despite what she had concluded yesterday. The woman didn't move a muscle, she just stared.

"Who are you?"

She repeated, her voice much clearer. The woman still didn't respond with anything but a confused gaze.

"Fuck..."

Miku still wasn't fully convinced that she wasn't dreaming or that she hadn't gone crazy. Suddenly, she heard loud grumbling. Miku stared at the woman in surprise as the pinkette had flinched at the sound her own stomach made.

"We need to move,"

Miku said with a sigh, not sure what else there was to do. She definitely wasn't going to attempt calling the emergency again. She might as well take the woman with her for now, as she would've never forgiven herself if she just left her here to starve. Maybe the woman would transform back into a dragon and start terrorizing the city? Why had she transformed into a human in the first place? All these questions gave Miku a headache, but at this point, she didn't care. She had gotten herself stuck in an unimaginable situation and now she had to struggle her way out, she wasn't going to leave the woman in this mess alone though.

Miku was taken aback as the woman made a sound, the first thing Miku had heard from this creature today. Having gained the tealette's attention, the woman looked at the wound on her side, Miku's gaze following. She was quite sure now that this thing was aware she needed help, is that why she hadn't harmed Miku earlier?

Miku inched forward, being very careful not to scare or anger the woman. She reached out her hand and brushed the feathers aside, trying to finally get a good look at this injury. She felt the pinkette flinch as her fingers grazed her wound. The wound wasn't bleeding much anymore, so Miku decided the best course of action would be to head to her place as fast as possible, there's no way she could get this woman checked up by an actual doctor.

Miku spotted her coat next to the pinkette and cautiosly moved forward to grab it. The seemingly on edge pinkette just followed Miku with her eyes.

Having moved closer again and having taken her coat, even though she doubted it would ever be completely clean again, Miku was glad to see that the blood from yesterday hadn't stained the outer layer of the clothing. The woman would look weird enough walking around the town as she was, but if people saw such blood stains, they'd get way too much attention and probably get police called on them or something, Miku didn't want to think about it.

She moved both her hands holding the coat over the woman's head and drooped it over her with upmost care so as not to scare or anger her. She knew she was going to have a hard time making rational decisions, but she had to try to stay somewhat cautious for the sake of her own safety. The woman looked at what Miku was doing with calm half open eyes. She opened them fully to look at the tealette when she retracted her arms. Miku had covered the pinkette with her coat successfully. She wasn't actually wearing it, it was just kinda covering her like a blanket, but Miku really didn't want to force the woman to do anything more.

"Ok, there we go,"

Miku said quietly as she stood up, her muscles sore from sleeping on the ground. She knew she wasn't being understood, but it felt too weird to just stay quiet. It would make her feel awkward regardless of what the pinkette felt.

"You too."

Said Miku, realizing that the stranger didn't stand up with her like she expected her to. She gently grabbed her by the shoulders, making sure the coat didn't fall off and raised her up from the ground. The pinkette was in a weird stance and kept stumbling, making Miku fear that she might fall, but eventually she got a good sense of balance. Miku fixed the coat on her once more and the woman actually held onto it now, making the tealette sigh in relief.

"Ok, let's go get some food for you, yeah?"

Truth be told, Miku was scared again. They'd have to pass many people on their way. Has this thing ever even seen other people? Maybe Miku's the first human she's seen?

Miku took a step in the direction of her home and the woman followed, though Miku could tell that she wasn't very used to her human body. She stumbled a bit and held out one of her hands in an attempt to balance herself, the other hand kept holding onto the coat. Sighing, as she often did, Miku took the woman's free hand in hers. She'd want to make sure that the pinkette didn't suddenly disappear or transform anyway.

And so, hand-in-hand they walked, a very lightly dressed girl with turqoise pigtails and a very worn out looking woman with a strange sense of "fashion". The ladder peeked at people around her nervously and held onto Miku's hand as if her life depended on it - it kind of did actually. She would make small hums and grunts every now and then, none of which Miku was able to make sense of - other than the fact that she was in pain. Miku herself felt her throat being sore and coughed a couple of times. Spending the night at a forest had taken a toll on her. She just hoped her condition wouldn't get any worse.

They walked up the stairs to the second floor where Miku unlocked her apartment's door and led the woman in - at least she tried to. The injured stranger would only enter once Miku was inside. The tealette removed the coat and sat her down on a chair so she could go get her medical supplies, but she had to turn back several times to ensure that she wasn't being followed. She should've expected this to happen, this lady had no idea where she was and had no way to communicate with Miku other than through grunts and body language.

Finally managing to get her supplies without the woman following her, Miku returned over to the woman whose gaze looked almost pleading now. The fact that this thing could transform into a dragon any second didn't scare Miku anymore, not as much anyway. This thing was in pain and all she could think of was helping her.

Carefully, Miku brushed aside the feathers to investigate the wound once more. The scar looked, bluntly put, ugly. There were clumps of dried up blood preventing it from bleeding. Other than that, as she was a human now, the gash didn't look nearly as big. It should be simple enough to tend to unless the pinkette decides to transform into a dragon again for some reason. Miku wet a towel by the sink and cleaned the wound a bit to get a better look at it. She thought about using alcohol for a second, then scratched it immediately. Water would be just fine, she couldn't imagine what this woman would do upon feeling such pain.

Miku guided her to her bathroom to use running water to give the wound a final wash. The woman hesitantly followed. Once in the bathroom, Miku sat her down yet again and detached her showerhead from its place. The water was turned on and she made sure it was warm.Despite her near-death experience in the river, the woman seemed to be enjoying the feel of water, something Miku was awfully thankful for.

The pinkette gazedat the bandages that had been wrapped around her with wonder. Miku thought it looked messy, but then again she was no doctor, the bandages - disorganized as they were - would do just fine. Miku would've liked to give the older woman a painkiller as she was obviously pained, but she wasn't sure if it was such a good idea and if it was even that neccessary. She stood up with a heavy sigh, glad to have dealt with the situation and amazed that it didn't go array.

"Luka."

"Hm?"

Miku looked at the woman intently.

"Did you just say Luka?"

The woman stood silent, Miku could've sworn that she had just said Luka. Did she know how to speak after all?

"Luka."

Miku repeated, maybe that'd get the woman to speak up, but she didn't. She just perked up slightly.

"Is your name Luka?"

Miku realized that the pinkette reacted a little to her saying "Luka" each time. It must've been her name, but why was that the only thing she was able to say like that? Thinking about it made Miku's head hurt. She declared that the woman in front of her was now Luka and moved on.

"You must be hungry."

She said as she stood and walked up to the fridge only a few steps away. Opening it, she was disappointed to find that she didn't even have food for herself, just vegetables, butter, sauces and milk.

Closing the fridge with a sigh, Miku opened the freezer instead. Various berries and ingridients were in zipped up bags, along with fish. It wasn't Miku's favorite food, but her cousins would give her some every now and then. Still, her main concern was whether or not Luka liked fish.

She took it out and put it in her microwave to melt away the icy coat, all while Luka's eyes followed her intensly.

"You really can't say anything more?"

Asked Miku, still confused about the whole "Luka" thing, but the woman, although paying attention, said nothing.

Luka was startled at the sound of a loud beep. Miku took out the fish and served it on a plate, the fish was already cooked so she had no idea what other preperations she'd have to do. She slid the plate towards Luka and sat across from her.

Luka seemed to recognise the fish as she inspected and picked on it. Suddenly she dug right in, eating it in a weird manner - she was holding the fish wirh her hands, but kept it close to the table and bowed her head down to devour it.

Miku felt weird all over seeing Luka eating each part of the fish, even the head, so she looked away. The pinkette had been a dragon not long ago after all, it was weird to expect her to act like a regular person would.

When Luka was finished, she stood up and neared the microwave, looking for more fish.

"I'm sorry, that's all I have right now."

Luka turned around to look at Miku upon hearing her voice but returned to inspecting the kitchen shortly after.

If I go shopping then what the hell do I do with her? Miku thought. It would be hard to make sure that she behaved in public and didn't attract unwanted attention, but there was no way she'd leave Luka in her apartment alone and it wasn't like she could just tell someone "hey, I have this mute woman in my home and she needs a babysitter." Eventually Miku decided to take Luka with her, but she desperately needed to take a bath and so did Luka. She would be just fine, but how was she going to manage with Luka? At least she didn't seem afraid of water so that eased Miku's mind a bit. There was no way around it, it had to be done.

To her surprise, Luka was not at all fearful of water despite the incident. Quite the opposite - she kept hindering Miku's process of filling up the bath by splashing the water all over the place, even onto Miku. At first she found it incredibly annoying, but as she calmed down, she realized how weird yet strangely endearing it was to see someone older than her like this. At least Luka seemed older, she was taller and her body was more developed. Thinking of this, Miku was glad Luka had those feathers to cover her human form.

By the time the bath was filled up, Luka had already climbed in without Miku even guiding her to do so. She was calmly making circles in the water with her hand, a peaceful look on her face. Miku picked out the strawberry flavored body wash and hoped to dear lord that Luka wouldn't dislike it, for she didn't really have anything else. Luka's eyes did widen in curiosity at the sight and smell of the substance, but she didn't show a sign of resistance and Miku managed to keep her from consuming it, which did seem to make her a bit upset. Miku was continuesly surprised by how calm Luka was. She made a mental note that Luka probably just really enjoyed water, perhaps it was just because of that that she didn't mind Miku scrubbing her skin and washing her hair with shampoo. Sometimes Miku even thought that the pinkette had fallen asleep as she sat completely still in the foamy water with her eyes shut. Miku greatly struggled to get her out of the bath once it was time to shower and wash out all the foam but she succeeded eventually and Miku dried her up with towels afterwards.

Now it was time to dress Luka up so Miku led her into her bedroom and rummaged through her clothes, picking out the largest numbers. Thankfully Miku had many loose and floaty shirts that allowed air to travel through them easily because she found them comfortable and Luka would probably too, since she was covered in feathers in quite a few places. Finally, Miku resorted to one of these loose shirts, the biggest jacket she had and a very long skirt that her mother gifted her, though Miku didn't think it suited her so she never wore it. She highly doubted that any of the trousers Miku had would fit Luka and a long skirt wouldn't irritate Luka's skin and feathers anyway. The jacket sure as hell did though. Luka put up quite a fight as Miku tried her best to make her slip her arms into the sleeves. She really didn't want people to see the feathers on Luka's arms. Eventually Luka obliged, though she kept shifting in place, feeling incredibly uncomfortable. Miku hoped Luka would get used to it quick, seeing her like this made her feel incredibly guilty. Now to the last issue - Luka's horns. Sure, she could just tell people that she was cosplaying or something, but they'd still get weird stares. Miku supposed it wasn't that bad though, she didn't want to make Luka more uncomfortable than she already was, so instead she gave Luka her best smile, cheerfully saying "All done!"

It was kinda faked, but Luka seemed a little relieved so Miku mentally praised herself for a difficult job well done. Now it was just time to have a quick shower herself and whether she liked it or not, she had to trust Luka not to destroy anything without her.

Luka was a bit bummed out because of her departure with water, but as she was still in a completely new and alien place, curiosity quickly took over as Miku made sure that she didn't do anything weird or break stuff. Eventually Luka occupied herself with a bag by trying to understand how zippers work and exploring it through and through despite it being almost completely empty. Miku took the chance to go grab some clothes for herself and then shower.

She managed to dig up her favorite pair of blue jeans and a T-shirt with a cat on it, as well as a dark gray hoodie. Feeling clean in the new clothes, she grabbed a hairbrush and exited the bathroom in a hurry, only to find Luka laying down on the carpet, staring at the ceiling and curiously playing with the pillows she had found on the couch. With a sigh, Miku walked over and crouched down beside Luka, her pigtails drooped over, landing on the carpet near Luka's face. Miku gestured her hand as if to say "get up" but Luka didn't seem interested in what Miku was trying to tell her one bit, instead she let go of the pillow she had been holding and ran her hand through one of Miku's pigtails, the long hairs brushing against her skin and falling back into place seemed to fascinate her a lot and Miku hated to admit how much she liked it when people played with her hair. Of course she hated it when strangers did it, but Luka didn't seem like a stranger at all at this point. Miku's mind went back to yesterday. She had saved Luka from drowning and she had seen her transform into a dragon right before her very own eyes. This couldn't be a dream, it couldn't be her imagination, she wasn't crazy, was she? Miku would've probably slipped into an existencal crisis right then and there if it wasn't for the soothing manner in which Luka kept combing her hair with her fingers. She was like a child from a kindergarten, so full of wonder and playfullness. It was very strange considering how old she looked, but Miku didn't let it bother her too much, perhaps she'd get used to it. Or would she? How long would it take? How long would she have to take care of Luka? She was still half-dragon and Miku found herself lost, wondering why Luka had even stayed in her human form for so long. She felt like she could sit there forever, but she heard grumbling, from her own stomach this time. That was enough to make Luka stop what she was doing and she allowed Miku to pull her up with ease. Miku fixed her clothes up, Luka had obviously been tugging on them due to her discomfort. Finally, Miku dried Luka's hair further with a towel and combed it as gently as she could manage. Miku realized she was treating Luka like a porcelain figure, but then again, she wanted to gain her trust and not a gash in her face.

Finished at last, Miku made sure everything about Luka looked normal and she felt quite proud despite herself yet again, she had practically tamed a wild beast after all. She could still see the discomfort in Luka's eyes, but she had to bear with it for a short time.

Miku opened the door and locked it after they had both exited her apartment. Standing right there on that pavement with Luka felt oddly discomforting suddenly. They had stepped into a world where others could see Luka and Miku had to try her best to put up with and get over with it. She was thankful for Luka's seemingly gentle and friendly behaivour at least, it was probably the only thing preventing Miku from having a meltdown.

**A/N: Updates may be slow due to personal struggles, but the story will not be discontinued unless deliberately stated so.**


	3. chapter 3 - The Glare of The Dragoness

_"Perhaps you're not as much of a dragon as the rest, but you are just as worthy of a happy life. Just wait, I'll come get you! You better not be dead, Luka!"_

Miku took a moment to reflect on her recent actions as she stood in front of the building she had just exited with Luka.

This is gonna be hard.

Luka was still shifting around, nowhere near comfortable in the clothing she wasn't supposed to wear, but she would have to get used to it. This was probably not the last time Miku would have to force her into them. At the very least she seemed to be enjoying the weather, just as Miku was. The sun was shining so bright that the rather cold winds didn't bother them.

No point in standing around. Miku should get this over with as quick as possible, she wasn't exactly having fun and neither was Luka. The tealette set off at a fast pace but kept her eye on the woman, making sure she was following her. Quickly regretting it, she slowed down and waited for Luka to catch up as she stumbled over to her, trying to walk just as fast as Miku had. Of course. This thing wasn't exactly used to two legs. It was a pain to get her down the stairs and it was going to be a pain to get her back up as well, but before that, they had to get to the market at last. She grabbed Luka's hand in a gentle yet rash manner and began to walk along - at a normal pace this time.

For each person they passed on the street, Miku felt like she could sink deeper into the ground. Luka was not doing too good either - she was looking at every single person, timid and unsure, just like she had when Miku had first walked into her apartment with her. Luka made sure to clutch Miku's hand and stay right beside her, which thankfully hid her strange staring a bit, but not so thankfully attracted more stares because of the way she was hunched over, almost as if trying to hide behind Miku's frail frame. Miku wanted to tell her to stop so bad, but didn't know how and feared Luka's reaction to anything remotely negative said to her.

Despite all, they made it and Miku took a moment to be proud of herself yet again - it was like taking care of a wolf of a dog and so far she was managing. There were much less people inside the store, though the aisles did open up a new risk of someone popping out from the corner and scaring Luka. It happened a couple of times and Miku apologized profusely to any person that was in turn frightened by Luka. Miku didn't really pay any attention to what exactly she was buying or what the expiry dates of the products were. With milk, bread, fish, veggies and such, Miku made her purchase and desperately tried not to make eye contact as she mumbled a "thank you" to the cashier who was obviously feeling uneasy about Luka.

Preparing to release her biggest sigh yet, Miku exited the store with Luka right by her side only to bump into two very familiar people.

"Miku!"

Miku was nowhere near as ecstatic to see the two blondies as they were to see her or at least seemed to be.

"Long time no see, who's that?"

Rin waltzed up to Miku with Len following close behind and as she did, Miku could feel Luka's grip on her hand tighten to the point of almost hurting. It didn't help one bit that Rin was pointing right at Luka with her index finger.

"Hey Rin, this is a friend of mine. She's... from overseas and stuff."

"Is she an exchange student?"

"N-no? She's just visiting, she's my pen pal, her name's Luka. Luka, these are Rin and Len," Miku said, turning around to face Luka and trying to sound as normal as possible while Luka was completely lost as to what was happening. Seeing her eye to eye, it was evident to Miku that Luka was extremely uncomfortable now and seemed ready to attack the two intruders if they so much as looked at her the wrong way.

"Hi Luka, don't be shy! Where ya from?"

Luka visibly tensed for a fraction of a second as she heard her name from Rin, but stood completely quiet.

"Sorry, she's really shy and doesn't want to reveal too much about herself. You're still strangers to her, so she's just being careful and all. Anyway we best be going... I need to..."

As she didn't come up with a valid reason to leave, Miku didn't even bother to finish her sentence and attempted to leave the conversation by simply walking away. Attempted.

"Miku, wait."

Crap. They really weren't going to let her go so easily, were they? This was the worst possible time!

"Yes?"

"We need some change, could ya please lend us like 20 bucks?"

Please?Were they playing it nice just because her "pen pal" was there? It didn't matter anyway, Miku took out her wallet and prayed she would have the right change - of course she didn't.

"Sorry, I have about 9 right now, will it do?"

"Come on Miku, we really need this money right now."

"I really can't-"

Miku trailed off as she saw Rin walking towards her. They were in front of a store and Luka was there too, she wasn't going to do anything to Miku, was she? Even so, the motion was enough to scare Miku into silence and a state of immobility.

"Stop screwing around-" Rin began, obiously trying to keep her voice down despite her anger, but as soon as she put a hand on Miku's shoulder, she stopped. With a flinch, Miku closed her eyes tight but opened them again shortly afterwards to find Rin staring at Luka. Turning her head slightly, she saw Luka giving Rin nothing short of a death glare. Her pupils had narrowed into mere slits, revealing the piercing blue irises beneath, which to Miku's disbelief seemed so much scarier than they did when she first found her by the river despite their bright blue color, even she was scared of Luka right at this moment. Maybe it was just the expression - eyebrows drawing in, a thin line of a mouth and a clenched jaw. Not to mention she had completely straightened up, revealing just how tall she was and her feathery hair was standing up on end, making her look even bigger. She looked somehow dragon-like to Miku.

Rin had a look of shock on her face as she backed away, removing her hand from Miku's shoulder and returning to Len's side. Trying to recover her composure, Rin gave Miku a look as if to say "we'll get you," and turned around to leave with Len by her side. It was at this moment that Miku realized Luka was clenching her hand by this point and now it really did hurt. With a grimace she tugged slightly, not wanting to rip her hand out of Luka's in a sudden motion. Luka's eyes immediately dilated and her grip loosened almost completely. Miku found that Luka was staring at her shoulder, the one Rin had put her hand on. Rin did usually have quite a grip, but not this time.

"It's okay," Miku mumbled and continued walking home with Luka, too tired to deal with anything more. This was supposed to be a simple trip to the store and back, what the hell happened? Rin and Len had been her friends for a long time, though they were not like they used to be. They kept using Miku and she hated it. She thought she was confident and strong, but merely being in the presence of those two was enough to get her legs trembling, she was so frustratingly weak! Who knows what might've happened had Luka not been there. That's right, Luka was there. With sudden realization she looked up at Luka, who was hunched over just like before, though not as much as she had been earlier. Miku marveled at how Luka could scare off an intimidating person like Rin without any particular movement. Oh how much she wanted to talk to her. Not even to thank her, just-

'The weather is so nice today.'

'Did you sleep well?'

'What's your favorite color?'

Anything.

Miku returned to gazing at the street they walked across. She would've never thought it'd be this misearable just not being able to talk to someone right next to you. An avarage person wouldn't even think of a situation like this, but here she was, not able to have a casual chat with the person next to her, and it hurt.

It was only noon, but Miku felt like she was best off going to sleep, who knew a simple trip to the outside world could be so exhausting? Having entered the apartment, Miku immediately helped Luka undress. She wasn't going to feel better unless she knew Luka was fine. Luka's hair and feathers were full of electricity, sticking to the clothes and Miku due to their length. Free of her burden of an outfit, Luka began to jump around right away, returning to the couch she had rested on earlier. Miku was glad she liked it so much, cause she knew Luka might have to sleep there. Her own bed was quite small and not much of an upgrade compared to the sofa anyway.

With Luka all curled up, Miku felt safe to stop surveying her for a bit and went to put away the groceries, several tiny pink feathers sticking to her feet as she did so. Finished doing so, Miku began to wonder what to do next. Luka was undeniably gonna spend the night here. Even if she did have the couch, would she need a blanket as well? There were extra pillows but an extra blanket? Her own blanket would be too hot for Luka, seeing as she was feathered and all. Maybe Miku could give her a tablecloth? It's not like Luka would take any offense to things she knew nothing about. Her tablecloth was probably too small though... What if she transformed in her sleep??

"Agh!"

Miku turned around in an instant to find Luka at the running sink, half her body soaking wet.

"How'd you manage that?" Miku questioned as she ran over and turned the sink off. Luka was surprised, but calmed down almost immediately, she seemed quite pleased with herself actually. Not so much so as Miku though, who gave her a disapproving look.

"Now your bandages are all wet..."

Miku brought the dripping Luka to a kitchen chair and sat her down just like she had some time ago. Slightly frustrated, she undid the bandages, only to find a thin white scar on her side. Miku stared in awe for quite a while. Where did all the blood go? How had it closed and healed so fast? Miku could feel a headache settling in as she thought about it, but ultimately decided that super-healing was just one of Luka's dragon abilities since she really was too tired for this right now. After all, she found herself feeling actually relieved. Luka was pretty much fine and that put a lot less stress on Miku.

And she wouldn't have to go outside to buy more bandages!

Miku simply threw the wet bandages away and let Luka off - she was in too good of a mood to let anything else bother her today. She had to prepare a meal anyway.

Did Luka like anything else besides fish? Miku thought if it was worth the risk of pissing Luka off by experimenting on her with different foods. She decided to cook a vegetable omlet for herself and to prepare fish for Luka just to be safe. That way Luka could try her omlet and if she liked it, she could have it, Miku would eat something else that didn't require preparing. If Luka didn't like it, she had a fish to devour.

Handling the fish was once again quite confusing. Miku stared at it as if it could provide the answers she was looking for, but alas, this frozen fish was but a mere meal and Miku found herself shoving it in the oven just like before, feeling like quite a dimwit in the process as she had been pacing around with it in her hands for quite a few minutes. She moved on to the omlet whilst carefully listening to the pinkette in the living room and checking up on her every now and then, making sure she hadn't harmed herself with the occasional 'thud!' At one point, Miku was forced into the living room as Luka discovered the monster that was "The Clock". Luka scratched the surface of the clock slightly as she tried to catch its hands. Miku eventually gave up and took it down so she could just get back in the kitchen before her omlet got burnt.

Sitting down at the table at last, Miku was about to cut a piece of her omlet, but Luka's stare prevented her from doing so. She realized quickly that it was the fork Miku was holding that Luka was intrigued by. Miku hadn't provided Luka with one because she simply didn't trust her with it and it wasn't neccessary in the first place anyway. Miku cautiosly cut off the piece and pointed the fork with it towards Luka for her to try it. Luka wasn't budging though, moving her head away instead.

Miku retracted her hand and ate the piece of omlet herself. Luka's eyes widened at the action, but curiosity was apparent in them. Miku took a new fork out of a drawer and cut off a new piece, pointing it towards Luka once again.

"See? It's okay."

Luka only stared, not retracting her head but not eating the omlet either. Feeling defeated and confused as to what to do, she gave up and started eating with her own fork. Luka wouldn't stop staring at it so Miku pointed at her fish, which instantly gpt the pinkette's attention. She bowed down and sank her teeth right in, but then stopped, noticing Miku staring at her this time. The girl kept eating hesitantly and Luka seemed to be studying her each movement. Instead of ripping the fish apart again, she ate it relatively slow, though still like the wild animal she was. Miku appreciated Luka for changing her way of eating because of her and her gratitude seemed to reach the pinkette as she returned the smile that Miku was subconciously giving her.

It was late and Miku was absolutely drained of all energy she had had. Luka didn't seem anywhere as tired as her so Miku just prayed she could settle down and let Miku sleep for the night. She put all the scattered pillows back on her sofa before instructing Luka to it. It was difficult to get Luka to lay down but as she did, Miku attempted to tell her to rest through hand motions and expressions. Luka didn't quite understand, but Miku knew she'd fall asleep eventually with all lights turned off and with her being in a different room. She had also concluded that Luka would somehow make herself comfortable and that there was no need for a blanket or anything of the sort.

Luka hadn't broken anything or hurt herself so far so Miku left her be. Luka was still a bit lost but obeyed and laid on the sofa as she was instructed. Miku peeked over her shoulder to make sure of it. Relieved, she was ready to go straight to bed, but on her way to her room, something caught her eye.

"Are you serious...?"

The bathroom door had scratches all over it. Perhaps locking the door was not enough to keep Luka from the water she appearantly loved oh so much.


	4. Chapter 4 - With a Stretch and a Tune

**A/N**

**Art for the story will be uploaded in a DA folder for now.**

**New art in this story's DA folder: deviantart (dot) com/shakly/gallery/71580680/only-in-a-dragon-s-dream**

* * *

Sunny rays shone through the window of Miku's bedroom and directly onto her face as she turned. Her eyes fluttered open and squinted in the light. Despite her weird dream, that was probably the best night of sleep she'd gotten since the beginning of the school year.

"What the hell?!"

As Miku's eyes adjusted to the light, she realized that most of the window was covered up by a big mass. Luka immediately perked up her head as she heard Miku yelling - her dragon head, all the while turning her massive body towards Miku, making several things fall as a result.

"Stop!" Miku shreaked, her voice hoarse due to just having woken up.

Luka instantly stopped moving, and stared at Miku with big eyes as if frozen in time. Her gaze soon took on the look of guilt as she lowered her head in shame, trying to make herself as small as possible. Miku's room was thankfully quite big for an apartment, but dragon Luka barely fit in there without crushing Miku who's bed was fortunately in a corner. She saw that Luka's tail even reached out the door of her bedroom, making Miku realize that she should've locked her own door just as she did with the bathroom.

"What the heck are you doing?"

Obviously Luka didn't answer, but she attempted to lower her head even further.

"Well then just transform!"

Miku was unsure as to why Luka hadn't already morphed back into a human, wasn't it obvious that her dragon form caused Miku dismay? Was she unable to?

Miku began making several different motions with her hands, attempting to communicate that she should transform. Almost hitting Luka's snout in the process because of how close she was despite retracting her head as much as she could. Defeated, Miku brushed aside the lone strands of her bed hair and exhaled.

Did Luka just transform over night? She transformed from a dragon into a human during the last night, but then again she seemed to be in full control of it when Miku had saved her. It was all too confusing.

Miku plopped back down on her bed with a slight bounce of the mattress, covering her eyes with her hands, trying to comprenhend the situation. Luka, though still guilty, became curious and eyed Miku carefully, once again in wonder of Miku's behaviour.

Miku put her hand on Luka's snout - or rather - beak, in defeat and gazed at her with somewhat tired eyes. This is the last thing she wanted to wake up to.

To her surprise, Luka began transforming, Miku retracted her hand immediately and moved further away. She had already seen this once, but it still felt surreal, seeing it happen in front of her - so close to her too. Before she knew it, Luka was done and Miku first inspected her room. To her relief, nothing seemed to be broken, though she'd still have to pick some things up or adjust their position. Luka kneeled before her bed, still a bit ashamed, it seemed. Miku made her stand up and distracted her with some random activity in the living room so she could go back and change out of her pajamas in peace. As she exited her room once again, she saw Luka peering at the bathroom door - the same scratched door from yesterday. Miku didn't exactly know how the 'money things' worked here, but she was always paranoid of using too much water so there was no way she was gonna let Luka take a bath every day. The next best option was...

* * *

"Alright, do whatever you want,"

Miku said relatively quietly, knowing that the pinkette wouldn't understand her anyway. Luka still shot a quick glance at her as she heard her mumble, but then turned her attention to the pond and walked in. It was just about what Miku expected based on how much she loved water back at her apartment. Miku had found this small pond among the trees by accident one day and tended to come here to write songs as unlike with the path next to the river, she doubted _anyone_ knew of this place. The walk there took almost 25 minutes since she was walking slower than usual with Luka by her side, but she deemed it worthwhile. She wouldn't dare to let Luka swim in the river in fear of her almost drowning again. This pond to her knowledge was quite shallow, therefore not requiring any major swimming skill.

In no time at all, Luka was fully in the water and splashing slightly, though still looking somewhat elegant, her wet hair sticking to her body. Miku thought her childish actions didn't fit her human look one bit, but it must've been temporary. Miku knew nothing about Luka, but almost all of this here must be completely new to her. Miku sat further away and tried to concentrate on her notebook.

She was having a major artblock due to school and Luka, but felt desperate to write a new song at some point, not having written one in such a long time had her stressed beyond any logical explanations. No matter how much she racked her brain, she wasn't quite satisfied with whatever she came up with. She hummed various tunes trying to pin-point the one she was looking for.

It was completely quiet around her.

Miku stopped and looked at Luka who seemed to have been relaxing until she heard Miku's hum and turned around to stare at her with one of those curious looks in her eyes that Miku was so used to at this point.

Miku felt a slight blush arising, so she turned away before it could intensify, but Luka's gaze didn't waver. So they sat in silence for a few long moments.

"Mm!"

Miku looked back up and she saw the pinkette staring back at her, slapping her hands against the surface of the water lightly.

Confused, Miku set aside her notebook and walked onto the shore and closer to Luka. Luka let out what Miku could only describe as an excited hum. The tealette remained confused, but in a mere moment, Luka climbed out of the depts of the pond. Miku stepped back but Luka held onto Miku's wrist, her sharp nails tickling her slightly.

"Luka?"

The pinkette pulled Miku further with slow steps. Miku soon found her feet in the water, soaked wet unpleasantly. She did not want to get in the water with Luka, but found no strength within her to turn back. She suddenly stumbled and in slight panic, grabbed onto Luka's shoulders and quickly pulled herself up. She had stumbled enough for the both of them to move deeper and there was no going back now, she was already waist-deep in.

"God damn it...!"

The woman before Miku was a bit taken aback by Miku's low yet harsh tone and she lowered her head just like she had in the morning. Suddenly, Miku felt a rush of guilt. She could've turned back, this wasn't really Luka's fault.

Miku, although a bit irritated and cold from the sudden wetness, calmed herself down, and pat Luka on the head to let her know that she was forgiven, for whatever she seemed to blame herself for. She brushed away the wet strands of hair on Luka's face, her hand lingering there and Luka suddenly began to grow. Was she transforming? Why now?

Unable to move, Miku watched as four pairs of wings stretched out of her back, feathers began covering Luka's cheeks and soon her entire face, but in a sudden motion she swooped right underneath Miku and with a yell, they were both in the air.

The take off was bumpy since Luka had not yet transformed completely, but she managed to stay stable enough for Miku not to fall off. That however didn't mean Miku wasn't struggling to grab onto anything she could.

Miku's pigtails were flowing franctically in the gust as she turned around on Luka's back to face against the wind while feeling it drying up her hair and clothes. The feathers she grabbed onto kept growing in her hand and some flew away as Miku accidently ripped them out, but Luka didn't seem too bothered. She eventually grabbed onto some of the long shale feathers of what she thought of as the mane. Miku prayed that the brown feathers with yellow tips were sturdy enough for her to hold onto, because otherwise she'd literally fall to her death.

In one final stretch and flap of Luka's wings, the transformation was done and Miku was now sitting on a considerably larger being. She had been too occupied with _trying not to die_ that scolding Luka didn't even come to her mind. It still didn't as Miku was as bewildered as ever, so high up in the sky on a dragon's back and still not considering herself being particularly safe.

Miku closed her gaping mouth as she finally grasped that the wind made it feel incredibly dry. It was hard to focus on anything in particular, but the scenery around her certainly left her in awe. All those trees, reaching all the way to the horizon - it was nothing new, but seeing all of that from this perspective was. The feeling of soaring through the air only added to it. Luka's feathers fluttered in the wind and her wings stretched long and wide with each flap. Miku loved this strange feeling.

Just like that, it was over.

Luka had circled back around to the pond and to Miku's delight landed near it as opposed to in it. She laid down for Miku to get off, though her movements were slow due to her bewilderment. Miku looked back at the dragon, expecting her to transform, but she didn't. Instead, she bowed her head forward, leaving very little space between them so Miku took a step backwards. Luka poked Miku's hand slightly with her half-beak, but Miku didn't understand what she wanted. She raised her hand and Luka put her forehead against it. She began transforming immediately and Miku was even more confused than before. Could Luka only transform if Miku had her hand on her head? Face? It didn't make any sense! Did it?

Miku thought back to when she first met Luka. That night they met, Luka had transformed all on her own, but the next day she had indeed transformed back into a human when Miku's hand was placed on her forehead. Same thing this morning, but not the night before.

Miku's train of thought stopped as Luka was finished and staring at her as a human.

Miku was confused, as if being with a shapeshifting dragon wasn't confusing enough, so she made no attempt to communicate with Luka despite the flight they just had. She simply walked back to where she was sitting before and picked up the clothes Luka had been wearing on their walk here for the sake of avoiding weird stares like last time. She gestured for her to put them back on. Luka's expression immediately darkened, just as Miku expected, but she didn't move. She appeared to be showing some attitude for once instead of doing whatever Miku instructed her to.

"Luka, come on."

Miku could tell that Luka was somewhat intimidated by Miku's harsh tone, but still didn't move. Miku couldn't keep up that voice though, even if she did, it probably wouldn't work. Her face softened and she walked towards Luka slowly. The ladder seemed sadder the closer Miku got and she wanted to know why so bad. If she could only ask her.

"What's wrong?"

If Luka could only understand her.

Luka just stared, avoiding Miku's eyes. Somehow she looked more vulnerable than ever before despite nothing in particular being wrong with her, at least, that's what Miku assumed. Miku pat her head, stroking her feathery yet silky hair soothingly, one of Luka's horns that Miku had forgotten about nudging her hand slightly. Luka closed her eyes for a few seconds, then opened them again as she raised her head, now looking the tealette in the eyes.

"Mi-..."

Miku's hand stopped immediately. 'Me'? Was Luka trying to tell her something? How could she if she didn't even understand humans? Miku was too taken aback to even reply. What would she even say?

"Mi-u,"

Miku's eyes widened and she retracted her hand carefully before finally mustering up something to say.

"M-Miku? You mean Miku?"

Luka perked up and repeated Miku's name with more confidence, though she had trouble pronouncing the '-ku' part. Miku tried to teach her, but ultimately gave up, she would still understand if Luka was addressing her so it didn't matter much to her. How did Luka know though? From that brief encounter with Rin and Len when Rin called her by name? How could Luka be so sure that that was Miku's name? Whatever. Miku felt both relieved and disappointed. She was happy that Luka was learning Miku's name, though she didn't know why exactly. As she started saying it though, Miku had expected Luka to just start talking out of the blue. That was obviously a far-fetched idea, but Miku couldn't help but feel a little sad due to it. At the end of the day, Luka still couldn't talk to or understand Miku. Despite this, the tealette gave Luka a proud smile and Luka returned it gladly before letting Miku guide her back to her clothes. Of course Miku had to be the one to dress Luka up, but she didn't let herself be bothered by it now.

Finished, Miku picked up her notebook and the two of them were on their way back home. It was only then that Miku realized Luka wasn't being so obvious about staring at people, she was also walking on her own, without holding Miku's hand. Miku was somewhat glad but couldn't help feeling a bit sad, not having that little sense of comfort as they walked.

* * *

Luka had eaten Tuna again and Miku her leftovers from yesterday. Afterwards the tealette had wet a towel and cleaned Luka's face with it as despite her attempts at eating more like a human would, she still managed to get quite dirty. The rest of the day went on without any particular problems, Luka mostly explored around again, this time fascinated by drawers.

When Miku set Luka to lay down on her couch just like the night before, she found herself unable to leave under Luka's intent gaze.

"What?" questioned Miku in a whisper.

Luka stared for a bit longer before sitting up. She started making some noises and Miku, to her surprise, soon realized she was attempting to hum the same tune Miku had back at the pond.

Miku smiled but shook her head gently, hoping that Luka understood she didn't exactly want to sing that right now, assuming that's what Luka was getting at at least.

Luka's expression saddened slightly, but it seemed she wasn't going to budge Miku about it. Miku was happy for that, but she just couldn't go to sleep now knowing Luka was the way she was. Maybe she could sing her something after all? Something other than whatever abomination she had attempted writing today?

Luka livened up as soon as a sound came out of Miku's mouth, a different melody. A new form of curiosity was apparent in Luka's eyes as she seemed to process that melody carefully in her head, each higher and longer note, each pause, each word she didn't know the meaning of.

Miku had sung for only a minute, but became too embarrassed to continue. She knew there was no reason to feel the way she did, but she had only ever sung openly in front of her family and even that put her on edge usually. It was one of the reasons she wanted to rent an apartment all to herself, so she could sing with nobody there to hear it. That was obviously thrown out the window at this point. Despite the rather blunt end, Luka seemed satisfied. Her eyes sparkled earnestly and Miku found herself mentally thanking Luka for being so supportive, as supportive as someone like her could be anyway. 'Last Night, Good Night' was a beautiful song, Miku didn't doubt that Luka would've liked it no matter how good Miku's performance was.

"Sleep now, Luka."

Miku laid Luka back down and realized that she had been saying Luka's name a lot more than she would with anyone else, Luka just seemed to understand her better when she did it. The pinkette got comfortable and Miku left her to head into her own room. As she entered the room in question and held onto the handle of the door, she thought about locking it like she had wanted to after what happened in the morning. Though, wouldn't that make Luka freak out? If she did decide to come into Miku's room at night, what would she do once she realized the door was shut for good? It's not like she knew anything about locked doors. For all Miku knew, Luka would probably assume Miku was dead right away.

So she left the door open and went to bed, thinking about the things they had done that day well into the night.

* * *

**A/N**

**Thank you for your reviews! They shall be addressed in the last chapter. Comment on Wattpad or send me a direct message for an immediate response/answer!**


	5. Chapter 5 - Dream

Everything was black.

Something was pulling her in.

It was calling out to her.

It was reaching out to her.

Miku woke up with a yelp, feeling a drop of sweat on her face. There was that weird dream again. Miku was pretty sure it was the same one from yesterday, or even two days ago, but clearer, and Miku didn't like it. _Wonderful_. Was Luka giving her nightmares too?

Just as she thought that, a sleepy Luka sat up beside her bed.

Miku stared at her bluntly, eyelids still somewhat heavy, but she was suddenly fully-awake as the situation finally registered in her head.

"Luka!"

Luka was definitely completely awake now too, taken aback by Miku's sudden yell, though that yell was mostly out of surprise this time, rather than anger or annoyance like the previous morning.

Miku's gaze fell and she stared straight ahead, too tired to get angry.

"Honestly what did I expect?"

And what _did_ she expect? She decided to leave the door to her room unlocked last night and by doing that, she set herself up for this. Even so, relief settled in Miku's mind as she realized how much worse the situation could've been. Luka hadn't transformed and as such, what she was doing, sleeping next to her bed, was ultimately harmless.

Miku turned back to Luka who seemed to be too afraid to move.

"Good morning." she said, not really sure why. She just thought that the circumstances were amusing, even more-so as Luka wouldn't be able to understand her.

After a few more moments, the tealette yawned and got up, which gave Luka enough courage to get up as well. The pinkette stayed close to Miku, following her around as she found a set of clothes for herself and proceeded into the living room, her only intention of going there being getting rid of Luka. Miku thought for a bit before deciding to give her a calculator this time to distract her with. It was an old model and each button made a sound, so she was sure that Luka could busy herself with it while Miku went through her morning ritual.

As Miku returned, just having brushed her hair, she couldn't help but notice Luka's bed hair. It looked like feathers were sticking out due to the weird fluff-like texture of them. She retrieved her comb and knelt down behind Luka, who sat on the floor and continued pressing buttons on the device given to her, an upside-down device at that.

Miku caressed the top of Luka's head so her hair would lay flat. The pinkette almost instantly stopped occupying herself with the calculator, instead leaning into Miku's touch slightly. Miku hadn't expected it but after a few moments continued, now brushing Luka's hair. It was surprisingly silky and despite everything, they weren't that hard to comb through. Miku pulled at her hair a bit here and there even as she tried her best not to, but Luka soon closed her eyes and relaxed, not too bothered by it after a little while. Miku, too, found that she was quite enjoying herself.

Not being able to talk to Luka was a difficult aspect of their relationship to accept, but for the sake of that relationship, she would manage.

That reminded Miku that she couldn't just keep Luka around. Luka had come from somewhere, a place where no human had probably been before. She'd still have to bring her back, if she just had the slightest clue as to how... And she had be honest, she didn't look forward to it. Not because of the potential struggles, but because of having to say goodbye. Miku knew it was inevitable.

Her phone rang then. Miku had been combing Luka's hair for an unnecessarily long time anyway, so she stood and looked at the caller ID for a few moments before picking up, not sure why her mother would be calling her.

"Yes?"

"Miku dear, how have you been?"

"I've been better, I must admit, but it's ok. There's no school stress right now so I can finally look for a good job."

Except she couldn't. All her time was dedicated to Luka. For now.

"You're sure you don't want me to help? Hit someone up for you?"

"No, no, it's fine, you've helped me plenty already! Besides, you don't really have the relations I'm looking for."

"If there's anything I can help with then please call me, I'm always here for you."

"Oh, I know. Is that why you're calling? Quite unusual for you to call for matters like this."

"Actually, Miku, there's something I must tell you, but please don't be sad."

Miku hesitated, but replied before she could overthink all the scenarios her mother could possibly be referring to.

"What is it?"

"I won't be able to visit you this break."

She should've guessed.

"...Again?"

"Yes, there's so much work, I just don't have the time. I'm sorry darling."

Miku didn't reply. Did she really not have time? Even just a day would be fine. Just one day.

"Miku, are you sad?"

"No, just didn't expect it, that's all. There's always next time, I can wait."

"That's my good girl. Everything's alright, dad can still visit you."

But he wouldn't.

"Yeah. Thanks for letting me know, I hope you're not too overworked."

"Oh you know how these things are, but let's stay positive."

"Yeah."

"I love you, dear."

"Love you too."

Miku hung up first, putting het phone down on the counter she had picked it up from, where her hands stayed as if glued to the surface. She didn't want to move or share a single other word with anyone, she found that she was glad the call had ended so quickly.

It had been so long since she had last physically seen her parents, especially her mother. Both of them worked too much. Her dad - alright, dealing with crime was important. Her mom though? She wasn't desperate for extra pay or anything, was she? It's not like a trip to Miku's place from where she lived cost that much either. Miku wanted, with all her heart, to give her the benefit of the doubt, but at some point, she should prioritize her family.

_Right?_

Miku felt tears swelling up in her eyes. When was she going to see them again? When would she feel loved again? She hated to admit how desperate she was. It had been her choice to live without a roommate and she still stood by it. She had enough friends, she thought, except they had all grown apart a long time ago. Miku just had an extremely hard time grasping onto reality. She didn't want to accept it, but it was the truth. She was lonely. She had been for so long and with the way things were, she didn't feel like there was anything she could do.

Luka.

A hand with those familiar sharp nails had settled next to hers on the counter, touching her hand ever so slightly. That was all Miku needed to snap back into reality, but it wasn't enough to ease her mind. She wasn't alone, in a literal sense she wasn't, but was that all there was to Luka's presence?

Miku didn't want to look at Luka's face out of an unknown fear she didn't realize had settled in her mind. Still, she forced herself to. Luka wore a worried, but no less comforting smile. Miku couldn't help herself, she wrapped her arms around the pinkette, burying her face into Luka's shoulder, pink feathers tickling her slightly. She began sniffling and had to try her best not to gasp for air. If she gasped even once, she wouldn't be able to stop bawling, she knew. Despite the welcoming warmth Luka's body produced, Miku didn't feel comfortable, not by a long shot, because Luka wasn't hugging back. She should've expected it. The woman had probably been a human for a very short while, how was she supposed to know how to act in a situation like this?

Even so, it hurt. Luka had been so nice to her despite their inability to speak to one another. She had been so kind, so curious, so lost yet so protective. Had Luka been born a human, she would've definitely grown into a tough, pleasant person, an undeniable sweetheart.

Miku wasn't sure if she was just making assumptions at this point or if Luka had really revealed enough about herself for Miku to know all this.

Sweet as her thoughts were, it hurt all the more and Miku pulled away, not able to handle the discomfort any longer. Luka seemed dumbfounded, not really moving or looking away from the tealette who began searching for tissues and once she found them, headed straight into the kitchen part of the room, blowing her nose and wiping away her tears. Miku just felt an urge to get away from Luka. It did make her feel bad, seeing as the woman had done nothing wrong, but she couldn't help it. She began preparing food quietly while Luka observed from a distance. The only thing she was curious about now was Miku, though she understood that the girl wanted some space.

Miku herself had never felt this trapped before. She wanted to enjoy the company, but for 3 days straight and with no breaks? It was mentally exhausting, but she couldn't leave. Her mood lightened a bit upon the realization that Luka had seperated herself from her, residing somewhere out of Miku's view. By the sounds of it, she wasn't causing any trouble, but Miku checked on her just in case. The pinkette was sitting on her sofa, not doing anything in particular. It worried Miku a bit, but she hadn't been noticed so she returned to the kitchen, where the two eventually had breakfast.

Nothing special happened for the rest of that day. Miku felt like it was over in a mere moment, but couldn't shake the feeling that she wanted to get away from just about everything. Her home, this town, this damned country and above all else, Luka. Despite this, she still cared for Luka as best as she could and as much as she deemed needed. Another worry settled in her mind however. How long will this last until Luka 'turns'? How long would she bear these same small rooms? Miku wanted to take her outside because of this, just like she had the day before, but today, she had absolutely no motivation for it. Luka though - she was still a dragon, something _had_ to happen sooner or later.

While her mind was elsewhere, Luka would be barely noticeable. She was not at all playful or needy, but reserved and quiet and frankly, Miku thought that fit her a lot more, although she wasn't sure if she could get used to her being this way. Was this permanent? She hoped not, for she would feel guilty until the very end of their time together in that case.

As night rolled around, Luka had already returned to her spot on the sofa so Miku only gave her a somewhat forced smile before returning to her bedroom. She had already decided beforehand not to lock her door, for a while at least. She didn't doubt that Luka would come sleep beside her tonight too and she didn't really care anymore. As long as the pinkette stayed a human, she wouldn't mind. Almost subconsciously, Miku creaked her door open just a little bit and left it that way as she crawled into her bed. Was she welcoming Luka into her room? Miku couldn't really answer her own question.

She would have a particularly hard time getting sleep tonight.

Miku felt like she had shifted her sleeping position half a dozen times in what - half an hour? All sense of time was gone. She wanted to look at the time but wouldn't, she was too tired. The night stretched on, refusing to let the tealette fall into peaceful slumber.

Everything was painfully quiet.

So painfully dark.

Something was pulling her in.

Again.

It was reaching out to her, but this time there was a familiar voice.

Miku let out but a mere whisper.

"Luka?"

Someone next to her shifted.

Miku's eyes fluttered open. There was Luka, staring at her like she had just seen a ghost.

"Miku?"

When had Luka started pronouncing her name so well? Hearing her say her name eased Miku's mind and she gathered the strength to sit up and lean against a tree - an oak she assumed. So she was in a dream?

"Where are we?" she mumbled, eyeing the space around them. There was this mist-like essence everywhere around them, revealing only the starry night sky, this one grassy patch and the tree where she was sitting.

Miku looked at Luka as she realized she'd been staring at Miku with wide eyes. She had no idea what was going on, but Luka's gaze seemed very odd, it confused and concerned Miku.

"Luka? Is something wrong?"

Luka's eyes widened even further, more than Miku thought to be possible, her mouth slightly agape now.

"Miku, I..."

All worries were swept from Miku's mind as she focused on Luka. Had she just tried to talk?

"...I understand you."

And just like that, Miku's eyes enlargened just like Luka's had. She propped herself up, sitting straight, lost in her disbelief.

"Luka, you-...!"

"I know, I... I can finally understand you."

Luka's voice was breaking. She was just as amazed as Miku and couldn't find the right words. They could finally talk to each other yet nothing really came out of either girl's mouth. They just stared, lost yet happy. The tealette hesitantly spoke up.

"...But how? How is this possible?"

"I don't know, I've been dreaming of this-"

"-Me too! You have no idea how ecstatic I am to finally talk to you! All those times I wanted to engage in literally any kind of conversation with you, but couldn't..."

Luka took a moment to look at Miku, she seemed slightly surprised.

"Ah, no- I'm not talking about that, I mean that this is the place I have been seeing in my dreams, "

Miku's cheeks turned a faint shade of pink in slight embarrasment. There was nothing she had wanted more since meeting Luka than to just talk to her. Did Luka not feel the same way?

"...But, when you put it that way, I'm ecstatic too. It's a pleasure to talk to you, Miku."

So she did. Miku looked at her with a relieved smile which Luka returned before she continued to gaze around them.

"I don't know how to explain it, it's always been fuzzy, all I've ever seen are this tree and the sky. This is the first time everything in this dream is so clear to me - and you're here too."

Luka paused.

"What if I wake up and neither of us will remember this? What if you are just an illusion right now? There's no way we could be sharing a dream..."

She suddenly sounded very hurt and Miku couldn't deny that her concerns were valid. She was just as confused as Luka was. Maybe she wasn't really here. Maybe Luka wasn't really here. No. Miku couldn't waste time on worries like that, it's not like they could change anything right now anyway.

"Even if we forget or something, I don't really care right now. We're here now, we might as well make the best of it! I can finally talk to you and I want to!"

"...Me too."

Miku fell silent as Luka took Miku's hands in hers.

"And I longed to do this - to hold hands, without needing too. Dragons can't quite do this, but I like it. I wanted to hold them again just because it feels nice. Only now do I feel confident enough to do so..."

Luka chuckled lightly and Miku smiled earnestly, the pink on her cheeks deepening as the two of them shared a moment of comfortable silence, even as Miku was being so bashful. Of course Luka didn't have the same understandings of actions like this as Miku did. The twintailed girl found that she liked it that way though, Luka managed to make these situations so much more pleasant with her adorable obliviousness.

"Tell me about yourself, Miku."

Miku's train of thought came to a stop and she looked up at Luka as if not quite understanding.

"Tell me about things so I know the way they are, for sure, if you don't mind?"

"O-oh, yeah, what would you like to know?"

"Just tell me about yourself. What you like to do and the like."

"Alright, um. So, I live alone, where you and I are. I like to sing and to relax in the forest, as you could probably tell."

"Sing... Yes, I noticed."

"I've wanted to become a singer for a long time. It's a hard path to embark on, but it's never really left my mind."

"Aren't you already a singer? You sing, do you not?"

"I do, but it's different. I want to become, like, popular, well-known and liked for my singing, so that I could... Live a good life."

Miku struggled to make the whole topic simple enough for Luka to grasp, there was no way she'd begin explaining the importance of money and occupations to her. The pinkette seemed to understand though, so she carried on.

"When I met you, I somehow saved you from drowning. I remember it like it was yesterday."

"Oh, yes, that... I was hungry since I hadn't eaten anything so I attempted to find some fish. Didn't really work out, I'm still not quite used to this body."

The two chuckled.

"That explains it. Why didn't you turn into a dragon then though?"

"I'm... Not sure. I think I was too weak, with that wound of mine, I suppose. When you came by, I think it was the sheer panic that allowed me to morph back."

"Ah, say, what caused that wound?"

"Unfortunately I can't remember."

This whole thing was confusing Miku more by the second, she felt like she wouldn't be able to understand any further details at all.

"But you know, Miku... When I looked at you that night, I just knew. I knew it was you I had been searching for. I couldn't bring myself to hurt you."

"You were searching for me...?"

"I was searching for _something_. I had no idea what, but fate led me to you and I feel like this is exactly what I needed."

"I don't know how eligible fate is in this case."

Miku found Luka's way of talking quite amusing and tittered to herself before Luka continued.

"Then I blacked out and the next morning, you were there, sleeping next to me."

"I was, huh?"

Miku thought back to everything that had happened and it all seemed so surreal. She would've never thought something like this would be possible, yet here she was, with a pink-feathered dragon lady. Luka seemed to be thinking the exact same thing as they both looked at nothing in particular, Miku glanced at the oak tree and thought it looked oddly familiar. The two kept subconsciously avoiding one another's gaze until Miku spoke up.

"And what about you? Where do you come from?"

"...A place far beyond this one, I think, full of lushious life, animals running around and all. Dragons too, but I barely saw any. I was... An outcast, not a dragon, not for them, and I was beginning to think that they were right."

"What? Why?"

"I don't have a 'lamella heart'. All dragons have this gem-like stone on their bodies, visible to the eye. It's very strong and provides us-, _them_ with certain abilities, I suppose."

"Oh, I take it you don't have those abilities then?"

"I don't know... Sometimes it appears I do, in recent times at least. It's like I've always had them, but am only now able to use them here and there, ever since I entered your world. Then again, I don't remember _how_ I got here, something must've changed during the time that I can't recall, for sure! I just wish I knew what. It's frustrating, because I keep wondering: had things been different if I could've shown them that I could do what any other dragon could? Would they still have decided over my life because of some 'secondary heart' I don't have?"

Miku couldn't bring herself to say a word, but she wanted to know more. Fortunately for her, Luka continued:

"Not all of those dragons were like that, they were just afraid. I just wasn't like the rest and thus deemed unworthy of their presence. Others called me a danger to their community, they threatened me and my family and weren't afraid to show their disdain. My mother, father and I, we were all hurt. I became extremely paranoid and for everyone's safety I left to live as a lone dragon. My parents weren't sure what to do, they debated coming with me but I had turned them down, I was young but mature enough to handle myself. Fortunately, I was right, I'm still alive, but that paranoia has never truly left my mind."

Luka's voice became increasingly quieter, halting to almost a whisper by the end of the last sentence. Miku tried her best to imagine Luka - Dragon Luka going through this. It was hard, but no less painful for her to know all this.

"I'm... sorry, about all that."

"No need to apologize. I have you now..."

Luka trailed off, trying to phrase whatever she was going to say as Miku directed her gaze towards her.

"When you held me today, it made me feel somehow happier than ever before. Like that's what I've been wanting. That warm, soothing feeling. I felt welcomed, accepted for who I was. For the first time, I felt like those dragons from back then could do nothing to hurt me."

Miku's voice got stuck in her throat. There it was again, Luka being so earnest, with or without words, that Miku felt like she couldn't take it anymore. She would be lying if she said it didn't make her happy though, hearing Luka talk about their time together like that. It was very comforting to know that Luka 'appreciated' her gesture so much despite not having hugged back. All the things Miku had thought about then - that Luka was a sweetheart, just lost as to what she should've done - it was all true.

Miku hadn't talked with anyone in such an honest way in a long time, not even with her father. Right now this voice coming from the pinkette was so alien, yet so... Luka. The same Luka she had been with all this time. The same shapeshifting dragon who had only made grunts and attempts at saying Miku's name. Luka spoke up once more when she realized the tealette wasn't going to reply.

"Thanks for being so kind to me, I'm truly grateful."

Luka then proceeded to bow a bit too far for Miku's comfort, even though the tealette found it pleasantly humorous.

"Of course, you're welcome, and... Thank you too."

Luka let out a faint giggle.

"For what? To me it seems I've been mostly a bother to you."

"Don't put words in my mouth! I was thanking you for..."

It was harder to put her feelings into words than she had thought.

"I guess, for talking to me. I haven't had anyone here for me for a long time, especially not my parents. That's why I held you, because I was... Lonely. I guess that puts us in pretty much the same situation, but either way, thank you."

Luka gave a small nod and squeezed Miku's hands ever so slightly, making Miku realize that they'd been holding hands this whole time. They gazed at each other, then around them, enjoying the lekker mood, before Luka asked something.

"What's that fish you've been letting me eat?"

"Uhm, I think, tuna?"

"Tuna... That's my favorite then."

Miku eyed Luka for a moment. Somehow that simple statement had made her immensly happy. Was it because Luka liking tuna could've been caused by the fact that it was given to her by Miku? Was it because Miku just enjoyed seeing Luka so content?

"But you know, if you ever want to eat anything else, I can always give you food that I usually eat, or anything edible, really."

Luka looked like she had just realized something, probably that Miku had already tried to let Luka try her own food on that day they ate together for the first time.

"It never hurts to try, I shall look forward to it."

Miku suddenly felt unwell.

"There's still so much more I want to talk about with you, but I suddenly feel drowzy..."

"I see... Our time here is coming to an end, then."

A frown appeared on Miku's face. She didn't care why Luka made that assumption or if and why she knew that that was the case. Everything was growing dim.

"Will we get to talk again?"

"I hope so."

Miku could feel her consciousness slipping away slowly, but before it did, she seperated their hands and put her arms around the pinkette, leaning onto her due to sudden loss of balance, resting her head in the crook of Luka's neck. Miku was surprised when she felt Luka mirroring her actions, carefully wrapping the twintailed girl in her arms. She had expected for this to end on a rather sour note, but all the discomfort from their previous 'hug' was nonexistent and Miku couldn't be more thankful. She had forgotten what it felt like having someone hold her. Was this what Luka had meant? 'I felt welcomed, accepted for who I was...'


	6. Chapter 6 - Pink

**A/N**

**Slow update, but mostly because I had to think of how the entire rest of the story would play out. With that I can confidently say that I've made good progress and updates will be more frequent soon!**

**(late) Special thanks to lilmonkee2006 for fanart and thus inspiring me to finish this part asap!**

**new cover**

* * *

Miku was not at all surprised to find Luka sleeping on the ground next to her bed, again. As a dragon back at wherever the hell she used to be, she must've been used to sleeping on hard surfaces, but that didn't make Miku feel any less guilty. She really had to do something about that.

Luka woke up shortly afterwards, her eyes almost immediately finding Miku's. It was then that a rush of anxiety hit the tealette. What if they didn't share the dream after all? If it was all just Miku's imagination?

"Do you remember?"

No reply, of course.

Miku scratched her head, deep in thought. What could she do to confirm anything at all?

"Miku," Luka called, arguaby less fluently.

A hopeful gleam flashed across Miku's eyes as she raised her head to look at Luka. The pinkette wore a warm smile, one akin to what she'd seen in the dream.

Somehow, Miku knew.

Their morning routine was basically the exact same as last time. Miku gave Luka a bath, having a much easier time doing so now that the woman wasn't trying to accidentaly poison herself and taking care of her hair seemed to be a soothing activity for the both of them.

Miku had been so preoccupied with Luka that she hadn't even turned her TV on for the entirity of her stay. That would be a good way to entertain the pinkette for the time being, right? Miku just had to keep away from anything too outrageous, after all, would Luka be able to tell the the television and real life apart?

Just like that, they ended up spending most of the day in front of the TV, Luka's eyes glued to the screen. Miku kept an eye on her, but whatever they were watching, Miku couldn't concentrate on it. All she could think of was the dream from that morning and hoping with every inch of her being that they could talk again tonight. There was so much she wanted to talk about - and needed to too. At some point she had realized that she knew of the tree from their dream. Miku wondered why it had seemed so familiar, she would have to tell Luka about it.

When it was time for supper, Miku managed to get out of her small trance and remembered Luka's words from their dream when they had discussed her eating. Miku had said that she could let Luka eat something else other than tuna.

_"I shall look forward to it."_

Miku thought about it. She still wanted to play it safe. Baby steps or whatever. Did she have enough ingridients for some tuna sushi? No, probably not, from what she knew about making sushi. She really wasn't the one to cook anything too elaborate so she didn't have much to work with, but perhaps she could make something work. She fetched out her phone and searched for any tuna recipes. It was then that Miku stumbled upon something doable. All she really needed was tuna and leek. That could work.

Luka at some point joined her in the kitchen, she instantly understood that Miku was doing something different and stared with curiosity as the tealette's hands moved, even if a bit hesitantly, always travelling back to her phone to check the recipe. Because this was new for Miku, her hairs would often get in the way, but she was too focused to bother tying her hair up more.

Somehow she managed, and the dish was done. Simply put, a mix of tuna and leek. Something they should both enjoy, even if Miku wasn't the biggest fan of fish. Still, she ate it and found it quite good, mentally praising herself for not messing it up _too_ much. Luka seemed to be liking it too, Miku couldn't really tell, but she was eating and that was all that mattered. Miku thought she should teach her how to use silverware. But she couldn't be bothered right now. Her mind was going places, thinking about the things she should talk about with Luka and if she would get to talk to Luka at all.

Although time stretched on and on for Miku, the day had passed oddly fast and normally, considering the fact that Miku was still caring for some dragon lady. She stayed absent-minded until the very moment she finally got to bed, not even remembering her thought from the morning about Luka's habit of sleeping next to her bed. Even so, her door was subconsciously left creaked open in a welcoming manner, awaiting the woman's company. Miku wanted nothing more than to see Luka in that dream again and eventually, she fell into deep sleep.

* * *

Soon enough, Miku's eyes opened. She was back here again, the dream from last night. As she looked around however, she was alone. Just the tree, grass, sky, endless mist... And her.

"Luka...?"

Fear quickly started to settle in even as Miku tried to push it away.

"Luka!"

Nothing. Her companion was nowhere to be found. Miku's mind immediately started conjuring up ways of escaping this dream. If Luka wasn't here, she didn't want to be here either...!

"Miku?"

Miku's head spun around suddenly with a surprised gasp, almost slapping the person behind her with one of her twintails. Alas, there she was. Luka.

"Oh thank God, I thought I was gonna be stuck here all alone!" Miku exclaimed, quickly realizing how weird it felt to talk to Luka again.

Luka put a hand on Miku's shoulder to stop her slight shaking, that was all the tealette needed to calm down almost instantly.

"Don't worry, I think it's just because you fell asleep before I did."

"Oh, yeah, that makes sense..."

Miku suddenly felt like a moron for freaking out so much instead of going about it rationally. Luka's explanation was completely logical and Miku was disappointed she hadn't thought of it herself. The woman did seem to appear unnaturally quick, but dreams don't seem to follow the law of time. As Luka removed her hand, Miku remembered what it was that she wanted to talk about with her.

"Yesterday, you told me about where you came from. Do you really not remember how you got here? At all?"

"No, the first thing I remember is wandering aimlessly among the woods until I came across the river you saved me from."

"...Do you want to go back?"

"I..."

Luka hesitated for a long while, it seemed like she was about to answer at several points but in the end, she lowered her head in silence.

"I understand that you didn't have the best of time in that World of yours? ...But I don't think you can stay here either. You found what you were looking for at the cost of not knowing exactly what's been happening. You want to find answers to everything, don't you? I certainly do, but before anything else, my objective is to bring you back safely. If we find answers in the process then that's great, but either way we've got to do something and soon. You can't just stay here."

Luka seemed to be processing Miku's words carefully, running by them again and again, staying silent.

"I'm sorry if that's not exactly what you want, but this just wouldn't work out. If anyone were to find out you're not what you seem... God knows what could be done to you... And I wouldn't be able to protect you."

"I understand. That makes sense, indeed. No matter what, we should try and find out what happened to me. If we find a way to get me back then so be it."

"Thank you for understanding. I must admit I really don't want to say goodbye, but it's better this way."

Luka's slight smile, sad as it was, faded and Miku felt the need to lighten the mood.

"Anyway, that may take awhile, we shouldn't get too hung up on it. This is truly a once in a lifetime experience for the both of us, let's try and enjoy ourselves while we can, yeah?"

"Yes, let us do that."

"Yup... Anyway, this tree-"

Miku gestured to the oak beside her.

"Yesterday, I thought it looked familiar, with its uniquely shaped branches and all. I recognised it and today I realized that this is the tree I would always hang around when I was much younger at the woods near my old home which has been bulldozed now. I may be wrong, but I'm sure it's the one! I thought..."

Luka looked at Miku curiously, waiting for her to explain further.

"I thought we could go find it. I'm confident I remember how to. I propose this because we have absolutely no information on how to get you back, this is our only clue right now. Maybe it'll hold some answers, why else would it be in your dream? You must have some subconscious memory of it."

"I don't know if this is neccessarily just my dream, it could be a mix of both of our memories, seeing as we're both here, but even so I think we should try and find it since, as you said, it's our only clue."

"Good point, but if we're gonna go, I'll probably have to put you into... Less than pleasant situations."

"Whatever do you mean?"

"You know, we'll be passing by a lot of peo-, humans. And also clothes."

Miku tugged at her own clothing.

"This here. All humans like me wear these kinds of, uh, things to cover ourselves, we mustn't let you stand out so I'll have to put them on you again."

"Oh. I see. Why do you cover yourselves with it though?"

"Well, you've got some feathers, even in your human form, but the rest of us don't. This is how we keep ourselves warm, I suppose."

"Really? And I thought I was bare. That makes sense then. "

"...I'm sorry in advance to make you uncomfortable like that. Maybe you'll get more used to it over some time."

"We ought to do what must be done, it's not that unpleasant."

"Good to hear. That sounds like a plan then."

Silence filled the air around them and it was now that Miku could really take in how quiet this place was. No matter what, there would always be some noise around you at any given point in time, but here? Absolutely nothing. This urged Miku to spark some conversation even more. Surely there was something else she wanted to talk about, but her mind was completely blank.

One topic managed to resurface though.

"Luka?"

"Yes?"

"Yesterday you told me about that secondary heart thing...?"

"The lamella heart, yes."

"And you said it provides dragons with certain abilities?"

"Indeed."

"May I ask what they are exactly?"

"Well, I'm not completely certain about mine, each dragon has their own unique abilities, I don't know what mine could be. Some heal plants, some breathe fire, some can read minds... Dragons with more offensive powers, while not neccessarily stronger, rise to the top and the rest are kind of like supporters. I imagine I'd be a supporter, with some passive, defensive ability. I wouldn't mind."

"You said that it appeared as if sometimes you were able to use your abilities ever since you entered this world?"

"Ahah, yeah, it's rather silly, but I thought that turning into a human was perhaps my ability? Maybe I can turn into different species by entering different worlds? However many there may be... Me sharing a dream with you could also be it, but I've never seen anything like it. Maybe it's some kind of telepathy?"

Luka stopped herself from rambling for a moment before giggling awkwardly, Miku had never seen her quite like this.

"It's really confusing, huh? It may just be a series of unfortunate events that I can only now see my true potential... Perhaps the lamella heart doesn't provide anything in the first place?"

"You'd say your true potential lies in these magical abilities?"

"It does for most of us, it makes us truly thrive as a species."

"I thought you were all about being accepted for who you were, abilities or not."

Luka fell silent.

"I am. But I can't deny that I'm eager to see this part of myself."

"Right..."

Yet another moment of silence. Miku groaned.

"Augh, there were so many things I wanted to talk about, but now I can't remember any of them."

"That's not good." Luka said, almost making Miku chuckle at her sudden seriousness, "Maybe something about your home? Or your old home?"

"Hm... Oh yeah! Your sleeping!"

"My sleeping?"

"Yeah, uh, I always set you down on the couch, don't I?"

"You do."

"But you always climb out and come to my room. I bet you're in my room right now too."

"Ah, well... It's hard to explain. I just feel something pulling me towards you, I think it's this very thing - us dreaming together."

"Oh?"

"I think it's only possible if we're close enough to one another."

"We didn't dream together on our first few nights, even though we were close together."

"Hm, you make a good point... Maybe it just needed a few days?"

"Still, very confusing. I suppose we could test it sometime."

"I suppose so."

"Oh, and on the first night at my place, you turned into a dragon during the night?"

"A-ah, you're right, sorry..."

"Why did you?"

"Because of what we just talked about, I could feel that something was coming. That this dream was going to come, but I wasn't sure what to do to make it happen, if I was supposed to do anything at all. In my anticipation, I made some irrational decisions. I thought maybe turning into a dragon would help, obviously not..."

"I was just very startled back then, but you didn't really cause any harm so it's alright, don't worry about it. I'd probably do the same in your situation. Speaking of which, you can turn into a dragon on will, but not back into a human?"

"What do you mean?"

"Every time you've turned back into a human, I've had my hand on your... head, I guess? It seemed to me you were unable to turn back on your own."

"Oh, yes, you're right."

"Did you know of this?"

"No, I'm just as surprised as you."

"Alright, anyway, don't turn into a dragon unless it's absolutely necessary, please. Like you did next to my bed or by that pond I took you to. I'm frankly amazed we hadn't gotten pictures taken of us or something, but we may not be as lucky next time. As I said, we can't let anyone find out about the real you. Other humans won't be as nice as me. We've got to keep our heads low."

Luka was understanding, but sorrow had built up in her ocean blue eyes, making Miku feel guilty for being so blunt.

"You like being in your dragon form, don't you?"

"...I do, but if it causes you dismay, I can stay like this."

"Well, I don't want you to be unhappy..."

"It's okay, I understand. It's really not that bad."

"No, I... How about I let you know when it's safe, okay?"

A glint of excitement appeared in Luka's eyes.

"Really? You could do that?" she asked, sounding like a child which Miku found rather endearing.

"Yes, if there's any oppurtunity for it then why not?"

Miku could see a smile tucking at Luka's lips which to her surprise, she appeared to be holding back a bit.

"Now we've got to think of a signal or something that you could understand without words," Miku continued.

"How about..."

Miku hesitantly raised one of her hands and pointed at Luka with her index finger before swiping up. Luka's gaze followed her finger closely before the tealette continued and repeated the motion.

"Yeah, I think this could work... Okay, see, it's like me telling you to take off and fly, to spread your wings!"

"Oh! I see!"

The two fell quiet for a few moments.

"Luka, would you mind transforming for me?"

"Not at all, why though?"

"This is the best place for you to do so without being seen, so, it's as good a time as any for me to... I don't know, get familiar with you? Like, look you over... It's hard to explain."

"I think I get it," Luka told her shortly before transforming. Miku watched in amazement as her nails morphed into sharp claws, feathers sprouted all over her skin and her wings as well as the rest of her body grew in size by the second. Luka looked at her expectadly once she was done as she sat down, her head way above Miku's.

"Well?"

And just like that, Miku was amazed yet again.

"You can still talk?"

"Um, yeah? It would seem so, this is a dream after all. I'm guessing that's why."

"Wow..."

"You're staring a lot."

"S-sorry, tell me if you're uncomfortable, I don't see a dragon exactly often..."

Luka laughed, her feathers bouncing in an appealing manner as the ones on her head straightened out.

"It's alright, that's to be expected, I was just commenting."

Miku remained silent as she observed every inch of Luka's dragon body with upmost fascination. She didn't exactly look like a dragon that would swim a lot, at least she didn't look like she was built for it.

"How do I look?"

"I mean, I haven't seen a real dragon before so I have nothing to compare you to. But I think you look beautiful, very elegant, just like you do in your human form... Yeah."

Luka smiled earnestly, which was especially evident now with that big dragon head of hers and her tail swayed from side to side slightly. Miku hadn't realized until now, but she wanted to hear what Luka thought of her, too. Her rather skinny form compared to Luka's and these ridicolously long teal twintails. Luka must've assumed this was normal for people, but oh how wrong she would've been.

"May I transform back? As much as I like being a dragon, I prefer not to be looming over you during a convesation."

"Oh, yes, absolutely, don't let me stop you."

Miku thought it was sweet how Luka asked permission for just about everything, especially as it was mostly centered around Miku's well-being. She would've probably done the same in her shoes, but that didn't make the pinkette's behaviour any less charming.

"Well, I think that's all," Miku said, thinking if there was anything else she wanted to say. "Oh, did you like the meal?"

Luka kneeled back down, next to Miku this time rather than opposite of her.

"You mean that food from the evening?"

"Yeah, I tried something a bit new. It was still tuna but with some extra ingridients. You know us humans think that eating the same thing all the time is unhealthy, but animals and I guess dragons like you do it all the time."

"Huh, is that so? I guess that's true, but after what you've told me, I think us dragons are missing out. We just eat what we've always eaten, never really trying anything new... When I get back home, I want to try all sorts of other foods."

"That's nice, but still, did you like what I made today? Was it fine?"

"Hmm, yeah, it was fine. I have a hard time judging, but I certainly had a good time trying something different."

"Okay good, I've never done anything quite like it before."

"I could tell."

Everything fell quiet yet again, but this time somehow more unbearable than before. Miku was still trying to think what she should talk to Luka about, if there was anything Luka needed to know, but without anything to interrupt her thoughts, she inevitably began feeling anxious again. This whole situation was still hard to comprenhend. Miku thought she was happy with Luka, a friend like her is just what she needed - what she's needed for a long time. Someone to fill the role of her parents. But Luka wasn't human. Miku knew she would have to say goodbye much sooner than she cared to admit.

"Miku?"

There it was. The interruption Miku needed.

"Are you okay?"

'I'm fine' is what Miku wanted to say, but if she would have to let go of her one true friend so soon... She didn't want to fool around.

"...I just don't know what I'm doing."

the sorrow in Miku's voice was evident and Luka couldn't bear it. She turned to Miku and forced her to look at her as she grabbed onto her shoulders.

"You want to sing, don't you?"

Miku didn't know what Luka was getting at and was taken aback by her sudden action. The pinkette's bright blue eyes were so intense, Miku couldn't look at anything else but them.

"So sing!"

Miku's breath got stuck in her throat and her eyes widened, something new sparked within them.The intensiveness in Luka's eyes faded and her grip on Miku loosened until her hands were back in her lap. Miku couldn't help but keep staring.

"For me?"

Miku looked at Luka in confusion. What did she mean? Did she want miku to sing literally right now?

"Right now I would understand the words too," Luka added.

She was right, Miku hadn't even thought of that. In this dream-like state they were in, Luka wouldn't have to listen to just the melody, she could understand the lyrics too. That put Miku on edge, it might just make it more embrassing for her. Prompted by Miku's silence, Luka continued, "If you don't want to then I understand, it just seemed intriguing to me. I've only heard you sing once but without even understanding the meaning behind the song. It seems so nice though, I'd love to hear your lovely singing again."

Miku's bright teal eyes widened slightly, that was probably the last thing she expected to hear tonight.

"Your face is getting red!" gasped Luka.

"Huh?"

"Are you okay? Don't bleed!"

"Wh- I'm not bleeding! I-"

Luka looked at Miku expectatly.

"I'm just... cold, is all. T-this is normal for us, humans."

Miku probably managed to sound convincing enough, but still attempted to hide her face, feeling more blood rushing in her head by the second.

"Do you want me to warm you up?"

"N-no! I mean, thanks but it's really nothing bad, but... Thanks."

Miku smiled whether she wanted to or not and Luka caught it despite Miku trying to turn her bright red face away from her. Did she really think Miku was going to bleed or something? Was she blushing that much? Desperate to change the subject, Miku addressed Luka's request.

"W-what should I sing?"

"I don't mind either way."

"Ok, then... Umm..."

She was suddenly deep in thought. Which of her songs had the most suitable lyrics? Did it really even matter?

Miku opened her mouth once, then twice and finally despite her wavering voice she managed to sing. She sung a melancholy tune that in it's original state could be quite a tongue-twister. Miku had been trying to sing that song perfectly for years. With a slower speed, she managed to do it, although she sang less than half of the song. Its words were probably too confusing for Luka to grasp the meaning of them too. She looked at the woman timidly. She was wearing a heartwarming smile, that was all Miku needed.

"That's actually not my song. It was written by a friend a long time ago. I don't see him anymore, but he got me into music and I've devoted myself to singing the songs he left behind. The one I sang was the last one he wrote for me."

Miku didn't really know where she was going with that and fell silent. Music meant so much more to her than she sometimes realized. It was wonderful to finally talk to someone about her love for it. Talking about her friend she missed so much though... She felt tears piling up in her eyes and began to feel uncomfortable with the heavy air around them. Luka seemed to understand as she spoke up.

"This singing thing, it seems so special to you humans, I've never seen anything quite like it, not among us dragons anyway."

Miku didn't know what to reply with but the pinkette continued before she could say anything.

"Could you perhaps teach me? I want to know what it's like."

"Teach you? Me?"

"Yeah, you seem like a natural."

"Huh, I appreciate the statement, but I'm not so sure about teaching you. You just kinda... do it."

"Then, I guess, I'll do it, but I need a lead. Guide me just a bit?"

"I..."

Miku trailed off and Luka noted the look in her eyes, it was clear she had come to some sort of realization.

"That friend I told you about, he actually... He wrote a duet song. I had no one to sing it with, so I always sang it alone, but if you'd like...?"

"You would want to sing that song together with me?"

"I mean, you wanted me to 'lead' you, we'd be singing together either way so we might as well,"

Miku felt timid again, hoping that Luka wasn't too displeased with the idea.

"...That'd be perfect, as long as you don't mind."

Miku was a bit surprised but knowing Luka, she really shouldn't have been. Luka in her mindset and ways had no reason to turn the offer down and Miku was glad she didn't. She pulled out her phone and unlocked it.

"I guess this works here too, huh?"

Miku for some reason had doubted that her phone would be there, no less function in this dream. She accessed a notepad-like app and Luka stared, fascinated, as Miku scrolled past big chunks of preview text.

"Ah, this one."

"World's End Dancehall" it read, marked with a star next to it.

"Oh I almost forgot, you can't read. Just, listen to me as I go. I will pause after a few lines and then you repeat after me, sound good?"

Luka seemed unsure but nodded, so Miku started with the first verse. Luka repeated after her without many problems, trying to mimic each change in Miku's voice as she sang. Miku, much to her delight, felt the remaining embarassment fade away with each note. She became entirely focused on teaching Luka and quite frankly wanted her to succeed, whatever her success may have been in the given situation.

They carried on until the end of the first chorus and then started over. Miku decided she wouldn't make Luka memorize the whole thing right now. Maybe she'd teach her the rest if they would sing together again someday.

At one point Luka started singing at the same time as Miku without her telling her to. Miku was taken aback, but for only a fraction of a second. She kept singing and managed to achieve somewhat of a harmony with the pinkette. They sang slowly and softly with no instrumentals to back them up, their voices ringing through the night sky of the dream.

They started from the first verse one more time and this time, Miku just sang. She wasn't being particularly careful for the sake of teaching Luka anymore. She found herself unable to look away from Luka's eyes, whereas earlier she was focusing mostly on her phone, or surroundings, or any part of Luka other than those captivating eyes. Those eyes gleamed with a new kind of happiness as they both sang, pouring their emotions into the words. Words that Luka forgot or got wrong here and there, but ones she was determined to remember, her mishaps sure as hell weren't going to deter this new passion in her.

Miku wasn't doing the greatest either, the corners of her mouth curved upwards in a bothersome yet very welcome manner and she had to try her best not to chuckle between her words out of pure joy. They were both feeling quite ecstatic by the last line and just like that, it was over.

Miku continued staring into Luka's eyes as silence, comfortable silence settled around them. She backed away shortly afterwards, realizing their proximity. Lost in the moment, Miku's eyes hadn't wavered and her cheeks began turning red again at the thought. Luka stared for a moment before she spoke up.

"You're cold often, then?"

"Huh?"

"You're not cold right now, are you?"

Luka shifted herself closer, leaving confused Miku to blush more.

"I knew it! So you're not cold!"

"W-what!?"

Miku knew exactly what Luka was talking about now, but had no idea how to reply and turned away, desperate to put some distance between her and Luka.

"I've seen it before, the red on your cheeks or whatever you call it - It really did genuinely scare me before though."

"It's called a blush. I'm blushing."

"Well this blush thing is causing you to act strange, does it come from eating something weird?"

Miku lifted her face and looked Luka in the eye, "It comes from you."

Luka blinked in confusion. Miku looked away, but continued explaining.

"Just so you know, what causes me to act weird is you acting weird."

Luka seemed completely lost.

"It's hard to explain, like... When you..."

The pinkette waited patiently for Miku to finish but that very thing was distracting her and only proving the point she was trying to make.

"When you look at me like that..! It's a bit embarrassing and... Because... You're a friend to me now, I care about you and, um, when I see that care from you it's a little weird, I guess I'm just, I don't know... Not used to it?"

Why the hell did Miku feel the need to explain this to Luka? She really dug herself in a hole.

"I may act a little strange. It just takes some getting used to, having you around, but for the time being, take it as a sign of... Appreciation, gratitude, uh..."

She wasn't sure how to continue, but soon felt no need to as Luka softly smiled at her and Miku wanted to tell her so bad that she was blushing too. The silence was too comfortable now though, she dare not break it. Not now...


	7. Chapter 7 - Crimson

Miku's eyes opened, not even taking a moment to adjust to the sunlight. She just stared blankly at the ceiling.

It happened again.

She shared a dream with Luka again and that meant they were a step closer to finding out the truth about her.

Miku tilted her head to the side to find Luka staring back at her, next to her bed as usual. The tealette only smiled.

Their morning routine passed in what seemed like the blink of an eye. Miku felt more energetic than ever, more than happy to break out of her usual day-to-day life cycle. Sure, Luka's company was quite an experience in its own right, but Miku couldn't remember the last time she would get out of her home like this. Hell, this felt like an adventure! The moment she was done with breakfast she bought two train tickets for her and Luka to go where Miku's old home used to be. Of course, those were for the earliest train she found, so she was practically dragging Luka around soon after, dressing her up and making sure they were both ready to leave. Her energy eventually carried onto Luka, much to Miku's delight. They were soon both excidedly strolling the street, stopping by a store to buy some food and Miku came to realize that Luka no longer looked at people weird. She still seemed unsure about the things that were happening and the places they were going, so Miku took her hand in hers.

Somehow the two of them made it to the train station without any major inconveniences and there they sat down on one of the various benches. Miku took a moment to calm down from her overbearing excitement and stared at the clear sky above. Luka soon followed, doing the same. Miku couldn't keep back a chuckle and she admired the way Luka had smiled at her at that moment.

As a train approached, Miku eyed its number. It was their train. She waited patiently for it to stop before taking a hold of Luka's hand again and walking inside. Luka was visibly hesitant to step on board, but she seemed to trust the tealette. The thought delighted Miku. There were very little people on the train and Miku sighed with relief. She looked for a spot with the least amount of people, found two pairs of seats facing on another and a table between them. Miku sat down and instructed Luka to sit down next to her. The ride would be quite long though, a little less than an hour. Miku hadn't really thought of that. She took some stuff with her, but how was she going to keep Luka entertained for the whole time? She pressed her index finger against her lips in thought and at first she didn't really realize, but Luka did the same.

"Heh, aren't you a copy-cat today?"

Human gestures must've been so alien to Luka, especially those that had anything to do with hands. Miku found it rather surprising that Luka hadn't brought it up in their dreams, she imagined that'd be the first thing she'd ask about if she were in Luka's situation. Maybe the way dragons used their hands or claws wasn't that different from humans, even if they had no thumbs?

An idea struck. She took out her notebook and pen, then opened a blank page. Miku didn't think of herself as a good artist, but she liked to scribble a little sometimes, the lyrics she wrote were often illustrated with tiny doodles of cats and birds. Miku began drawing and Luka watched intently as she did. Miku recalled her dream and how Luka had looked like in her dragon form, but it was a lot harder to draw it out than she thought. A beak-like snout, four wings, lots of fluffy feathers, two pairs of horns on her head... Or was it three? Miku examined Luka's hair from the corner of her eye since she knew her horns were still there to some degree. She could only see two horns so that's what she just rolled with.

As Miku finished, she slid the notebook over to Luka so the pinkette could take a better look at it. It wasn't anything amazing, but perhaps Luka could still recognize herself. Luka didn't react much and instead took a hold of Miku's pen, which the tealette let her have, curious as to what she'd do with it. Luka held it firmly with just her thumb and index finger. She pressed the pen against the paper with way too much strength and then drew a wobbly line. She was completely lost.

Luka raised her head and looked at Miku, quite obviously asking for help. Miku smiled and put her right hand around Luka's, pressing all her fingers against the pen and then positioning them correctly with her left. Miku had no idea what Luka was trying to draw, so she just moved Luka's hand with hers to draw another - considerably less wobbly line. She let go and as she did, Luka attempted to draw on her own again. She was still pressing too hard and not holding the pen comfortably, but it was much better than her first attempt. She ended up drawing three lines. Two diagonal lines leaning onto one straight one, exactly like an arrow pointing upwards. Was that what she had intended to draw?

"Miku," Luka murmured as she pressed one of her fingers onto the drawing.

Miku's eyes widened for a moment, she understood what that was.

"Is that me?"

Miku really couldn't put her finger on how that was supposed to be her, but it couldn't be anything else, right? Luka probably understood that Miku had drawn her and had decided to do the same.

Luka reached out her hand to hold one of Miku's twintails. As the teal mass slid off of the palm of her hand, she massaged a strand of it between her index finger and thumb. Miku would've shuddered at the affectionate gesture if it weren't for the realization that hit her.

"Ah, I see! Those are my pigtails."

So the diagonal lines were supposed to be her hair. Of course, Luka nor she could confirm if that was really the case, but it suddenly made so much sense that she couldn't have thought of any other possible way that drawing was supposed to resemble her. What differentiated her from other people, or rather, humans, were her twintails, after all. She nodded to Luka happily and the pinkette continued drawing. Miku, supporting her head with the palm of her hand watched her scribble for a bit before turning her head to the window to the left of her. Lots of trees, fields and meadows passed by her eyes, though Miku found herself unable to focus on any of them.

* * *

Two pairs of feet stepped on the cement that Miku had not walked on for years. Even so, it felt right back at home. The tealette gazed around, taking in the familiar scenery of the town, while Luka just followed with each step she took. It would be a short walk to her old bulldozed lot and it was straight into the forest from there.

Miku had appearantly fallen asleep at one point on the train, but fortunately woke up before they could miss their stop. Whether or not Luka even tried to wake her, she didn't know. Maybe Luka hadn't noticed her falling asleep at all, judging by how excited she was about drawing. Miku's notebook was a rollercoaster of scribbles by the time she woke up, none of which she really managed to make sense of, except for the arrows that were supposed to be her, of course.

As they walked, Miku could see the familiar place she used to live at entering their view. Sure enough, the house from her childhood was no longer there. It was a large muddy batch of nothing. Signs and barricade tape suggested that construction was still going on, but it must have not been decided what would be built there yet. Grass was already growing back all across the lot. Miku didn't take more than just a few moments to inspect however, there was nothing new to see and there wasn't much sadness to feel about it anymore. Not once did she let go of Luka's hand and so, they entered the forest.

Miku wondered how similar this looked to wherever Luka had come from. She assumed dragons would've lived in forests, but perhaps not ones like this. Maybe dragons didn't even have pines or spruces, but instead some completely different types of trees no man had seen before? The tree she and Luka saw in their dream was definitely an oak though, or was it just a coincidence that it looked exactly like one? Let alone the one Miku instantly recognized from her memories?

The woods looked quite different from how Miku remembered them, but she continued to surprise herself as she walked, not once hesitating about where they were going. Each step she took she knew she had taken before. Certain low-hanging branches and trees that had fallen down across the faint path were all still there and the tealette remembered each one without fail.

It took 15 minutes for the two of them to reach the small clearing Miku had in mind, although taking a walk down memory lane made the time it took seem a lot shorter. Something about that clearing was off, however.

The oak, the tree they had seen in their dreams... It was supposed to be right there, but instead, there was a patch of dirt, pebbles and the like all around it, not a single blade of grass in sight. Had someone dug something up here? Why would this specific tree be gone? Everything else seemed unchanged...

Miku crouched down to inspect a small amount of the dirt in her hand, not really sure for what purpose. Luka visibly tensed as if frozen in time.

"Luka?"

Luka didn't react to Miku at all, she began looking around slowly, though her eyes darted around franctically. The tealette became very concerned, stood up and put a hand on Luka's shoulder, trying to bring her back to her senses, but as she did, she heard something large approaching them. Luka had her eyes fixated at a certain point and when Miku followed, she couldn't believe her eyes.

Another dragon.

It had various horns and spikes all over its body and was covered in scales of warm hues, mostly red. Only a few moments passed until yet another dragon approached them from behind the first one. This one, unlike the previous, but much like Luka, was covered in feathers, those of which varied from white to dark blue. Luka became stiff, not moving an inch, her intent eyes remaining on the slowly approaching dragons. Miku's hand dropped from her friend's shoulder, but then grabbed onto her arm tight, she was mortified and she wanted to run, but felt like she was glued to Luka. Luka must've known what she was doing, surely Miku making a run for it now would only anger the two dragons in front of them, though there was little she could do to stop her shaking. Luka wasn't reacting at all, she only glared.

The red dragon's eyes narrowed but soon widened as Luka began transforming and Miku stepped away. It took the pinkette only a few seconds before she was already a fearsome dragon. Miku assumed that was how fast she was able to turn into a dragon, although that was the first time she'd seen it happen that quick. Something was definitely up between her and the other dragons. The tealette carefully returned to Luka's side who was still otherwise immobile. As her hand slowly pressed itself onto Luka's feathery foreleg, she could hear and see by the shadow cast beneath her that one of Luka's four wings shielded her. It then became clear to Miku that the dragons were communicating. Various grunts and bellows were exchanged. Miku couldn't make much sense of any of them, other than the obvious tension and aggression.

The red dragon took a few cautious steps forward but Luka was having none of it. She growled like nothing Miku had heard before. The red dragon was barely phased and this time, it began to walk towards them with considerably more confidence, but Luka wouldn't allow it. She stretched her wings for a fraction of a second and with a single flap, she was already high above ground. Miku let out a loud yelp as she fell due to the sudden gust of wind. To her horror, she saw the red dragon spread its wings. In no time at all it was up in the air and as frightening as it was, the white dragon followed. Luka was flapping her massive wings as fast as she could, her head hunching forward each time, obviously tiring her quickly. Still, she had to try to escape the two beasts now chasing her who for all Miku knew, could've been out to kill Luka in cold blood. It seemed Luka knew the two dragons were there for her if she didn't hesitate leaving Miku behind the way she had. The tealette quickly stumbled to her feet and began running after the dragons as fast as she possibly could. She never thought of how terrifying it'd be to hear Luka, but not see her. She had to keep an eye on the pink dragon, even as the leaves of all the trees limited her view.

As fear for Luka's life forced its way into Miku's mind, the red dragon let out a large burst of flames, aimed right at Luka. It seemed the flames didn't quite reach due to the air pressure, only burning the edges of some feathers at the tip of Luka's tail. Luka herself shook her neck and head lightly, made a sudden turn right towards the two dragons to face them and then a white flash forced Miku to shut her eyes. It was so bright Miku thanked the lord for not having lost her eyesight right then and there. A loud, pained roar could be heard and as Miku opened her eyes, she saw the red dragon regaining its balance in the air, the right side of her body scorched and bleeding. Miku had no idea just how much of the attack it was able to avoid but clearly it didn't hit well enough to deter the dragon. Then again, Miku didn't have any idea for what just happened.

Luka didn't attack the way she just had again, perhaps she was unable to or she didn't trust her aim, but clearly she had to do something to fight the dragons as there was no way she could escape them. To Miku it seemed the attackers were perfectly suited for fighting, Luka wasn't like them. That frightened Miku. She wanted to yell out to Luka but found herself unable to because of how much she was straining her body running like this. The only thing that kept her going was adrenaline.

The pink dragon decided to take a chance and flew towards the red dragon, which easily avoided the attack by moving upwards. Luka was prepared for that however and immediately changed her target - she was now heading for the white dragon instead. Taking it by surprise, she managed to dig her teeth into its wing. The two of them brawled in the air for a few moments as Luka refused to let go before she managed to rip that part off of the white dragon's wing completely. She was about to go in for another bite but then turned and flew straight up to the sky to avoid the other enraged dragon's attack. Luka flapped her wings, as much as she still could before stopping, now high above the other two dragons. The red dragon followed her, but Luka dived in for a strike. Like this, she approached the other dragon too quickly for it to dodge her. In just a second the dragons collided and Luka bit it at the base of its neck with all her strength, blood splurting out instantly from the wound. The recoil however was not enough. The red dragon reacted immediately and took the oppurtunity to breathe more fire and because of their proximity, the air pressure wasn't able to save Luka this time. Her feathers and especially her right wing caught on fire. Luka let go right away, roaring in pain as she spiraled right towards the ground, trying desperately to put the flames out.

"LUKA!" Miku shrieked to the sky, her throat hurting unbearably. Her friend plummeted down into the ground away from her with a loud thud, causing the ground beneath her feet to shake. Miku ran towards her, but stopped when she could see the two dragons approaching. There wasn't anything she could really do and Luka would've wanted her to stay safe, still...

Not a single feather of Luka's was on fire anymore, but she definitely wasn't in any shape to keep fighting now. In distress, she slowly attempted to lift her body. She was too exhausted to even move her back legs, but her forelegs couldn't carry the weight on their own. They shook violently and she slumped back down to the ground as she felt the other two dragons land next to her. The white dragon bit Luka's wing and dragged it away from her neck as she tried to shield it, the red dragon dug her teeth into it instantly. Luka roared out in immense pain and suddenly began to thrash about, clawing at the red dragon, though she had nowhere enough strength to deter it from sinking its fangs deeper yet. She tried her best to escape despite her injuries, but blood kept gushing out of her neck at an alarming rate with each pulse of her heart.

Tears began rolling down Miku's face uncontrollably as she covered her mouth, trying not to scream, trying not to call out to Luka. Was it really worth staying alive if Luka would die? Miku hadn't quite realized how close she had grown to her, how much she liked having her around. Hearing Luka's agonising roars which to her began sounding like human screams full of nothing but torment and hopelessness made Miku realize that she'd die in her stead without hesitation.

So why was she hesitating?

Her friend had fallen quiet. The two dragons flew away as if in a hurry and as soon as they did, Miku ran. She ran like she had never run before, straight to Luka.

"LUKA! Please be alive! Luka! Oh God, please...!"

Miku's fast words were quickly drowned out by her sobs. It had all happened so fast, if only they had never come here...

"Please, Luka...!"

Miku's throat hurt unbearably by this point. She buried her face into the ruffled feathers on the side of Luka's large head, half her jacket quickly soaking in blood from her neck wounds.

Luka's side began to rise and fall slowly and Miku immediately heard and felt Luka gasping for air, though the dragon didn't open her eyes.

"Luka!" Miku yelled yet again, this time with mostly hope rather than the lack there of. She was still alive!

"Hang on Luka! You hear me? Luka!"

Most she was gonna get out of Luka as a response was gradual whimpering and even then, Miku wasn't sure if Luka was even aware of her presence in her torturous state. Miku held the dragon's head as close to her chest as she could, thinking back to that fateful night they met - It had been Miku's heartbeat that calmed Luka down then. She could only hope that it'd still bring her some comfort even among all the pain.

In her anguish, Miku hadn't even heard a helicopter approaching right away, several of them actually. Miku couldn't be bothered to count them, with her blurry sight she would probably be unable to anyway. It must've been the military. Where did they come from? What were they going to do? It didn't matter. Only Luka mattered!

Miku could hear someone announcing themselves, but she was too preoccupied to understand much of what they said. Did they just ask her to let go of Luka and step back? She couldn't afford to do that; she wouldn't. She would never let go of Luka again. They could start shooting and she still wouldn't! All noises except for Luka's had drowned out completely in Miku's mind, up until she was physically forced off of Luka. Two men had a tight grip on her arms, but even so, she attempted to escape, to run back to Luka. All she could do was scream. She screamed Luka's name, screamed for the men to let her go, screamed that her friend was going to die.

Luka was going to die.


	8. Chapter 8 - Investigation

Not even the hands that were colder than they would've been on a cool winter night could keep her grounded in reality. Her nerves, supposed to register that cold, seemed to have gone numb. Her fingers, loose as they were, held onto one thing. A fraction of her. A hot pink feather with a yellow, almost golden tip. Much sturdier than a large bird's feather would've been from what she knew. She held onto it, and with that, she held onto the slightest bit of hope.

It was all she had.

Miku had just been questioned by the police. She remembered everything that they had asked and what she had answered, but her words probably hadn't conveyed any emotion. She had claimed that she'd found Luka in that condition not too long before the army came by, or whoever those people were. Her claim to be able to talk to her was also used as an excuse for how she knew Luka's name, the name she had been foolishly screaming as she was dragged away from her. So, from what the investigator was told, Miku had misteriously stumbled upon the three dragons fighting and became disdraught because of the sight unfolding before her. By sheer reflex, she had run up to the dying dragon, Luka, to comfort her because "nobody deserves to die like that" or whatever. Miku's explanation was all over the place, but because they were dealing with something so otherwordly, her story wasn't questioned too much. At least, not yet.

Silence fell upon her and the officer across the table as she focused only on the feather.

The officer said something. Miku didn't raise her head, but her body tensed immediately, eyes large in disbelief as only two words ringed in her head on a loop.

"It's alive."

Luka was alive. Miku didn't have the strength to look up to see if he had even been sincere, she didn't even have enough strength to cry, even though she wanted to.

Appearantly Luka was locked up in some private facility, in terrible condition too, but alive nonetheless. Miku would have to wait for further information, that's what she was told, and so she kept waiting, holding onto the feather as she was left all alone again in that small daunting room.

Had she been waiting for 10 minutes or several hours? She had no idea, but further information came.

"Miku."

The tealette hadn't even realized that a different man had entered the room. There was only one police officer that would ever refer to her by her first name like that.

"Dad?"

Miku's gaze slowly traveled upwards to look her father in the eye, slightly relieved.

"Yes, dear. Don't worry, I'm here. I assure you nothing will be done to you, so please don't be scared."

"...Am I a suspect?"

"Not particularly. We're not dealing with a crime, we don't know what we're dealing with. The officers will want to keep an eye on you though, no doubt."

"I see."

"Miku, please tell me, what's with that dragon... Or whatever that thing was?"

"I assume you heard my conversation with that other officer."

"Certainly, but I'm afraid there are some things you aren't telling us. If you truly care for that thing, then you should tell us everything you know. As I said, you won't get into any trouble and it'll only help us deal with that thing better."

Miku didn't like how he phrased that last part.

"She..."

Wait, _shit_. She was still in a police facility and probably being watched if not recorded. Were they using her father to try and get information out of her? They totally were! She couldn't confront him about it right now too. Surely he had good intentions but she knew better. She knew they wouldn't understand. Revealing anything else would only cause more harm to Luka and she couldn't let that happen.

"It's just... It's what I've already told you. I'm sorry, I don't have much to add to it. I know it's a confusing tale, but you've got to remember that I'm just as lost in all of this as everyone else. You know how I am, I love animals and stuff. In the heat of the moment, the only thing I could comprenhend was the thought of her dying, and I didn't want that, dragon or not. That's why I did what I did and that's why I want to see that she's really alive."

"And her talking? How was that possible?"

"You're asking me? It just... Happened. I... I was surprised to find that nobody else could hear her like I did. I truly have no idea why it's just me, maybe there's still someone else out there who could understand her... Or maybe she's just refusing to talk to anyone but me. I wouldn't know."

"You can tell me anything, trust us. We will take care of it."

"No! I mean... Please understand that that's all I know. I so badly wish I had more knowledge on her myself. But... I need to see her, dad, _please_. My heart won't be at ease otherwise. I want to know that she's really okay."

Miku didn't realize how strong her grip had gotten on the feather, she tried her best not to damage it. Her dad took out his phone and after a minute handed it to Miku. The tealette stared in awe at what was on the screen.

"Live footage. It's safe and recovering."

Recovering? Miku didn't believe that for a second. The quality of the video wasn't particularly good, but it was easy to make out Luka's horrible condition, although she was visibly breathing at least. What concerned Miku was that no bandages were covering any of the wounds, no food or water source was in sight and there was something strange covering her head.

"Do you feed her?"

"Of course, we want it to be healthy."

"Her wounds don't look like they've been cared for."

"They have, as much as deemed necessary."

"So there are supposed to be gaping gashes all over her body?" muttered Miku with a lot more edge than she had intended.

"Miku, relax, you're too tense. You've got to remember, we don't know what this thing is capable of. We have to proceed with upmost caution. Still, I assure you, we're doing all we can. We'll make sure she will recover."

Miku wanted to keep protesting, to question him about the thing on Luka's head, but decided against it. She was getting nowhere like this.

"Alright, I trust you. I still want to see her though - in person."

"That's not up to me, but I'll mention it to the others."

A comforting little gleam was evident in her dad's eyes before he stood up. A subtle sign that he would do everything he could to help Miku's wish be granted. Miku knew that her father had to be careful though. In the military, there was no room for emotional bonds or favouring family. Life wasn't about to let her have her way, but she was ready to fight for it.

* * *

After a tideous amount of time in dull rooms reeking of countless interrogations and a phone call from her mother, Miku at last found time to relax - as much as she could relax anyway. Her mind was busied with racing thoughts concerning Luka's condition and safety but none could even begin to lay the foundation for any ideas for how to get anywhere near her. Had she the slightest clue where Luka was being held, she might've just as well gone there by herself regardless of what'd happen to her. Alas, most she could really do was wait and put faith in her father and the rest of the people involved.

So, she waited, sitting on her couch despite her inability to find a comfortable position. Miku was honestly surprised she was allowed to go home at all. She thought she'd be stuck in those painfully monotone rooms for a while because of the sensitive information she held. Was that somehow her father's doing? Were they just not planning to keep the whole magical dragon incident thing covered up? Was the public already aware of it to some degree? Judging by news outlets and social media it didn't seem so. That thought in comparision to Miku's concern for Luka's well-being though was laughably small. Even so, it added another layer to her misearable mindset and she couldn't take it anymore. Tense as she was, Miku figured a ride to the grocery store before it closed for the night could get her mind off of things at least for a little while. She didn't want to push aside her valid concerns, but how she was now wasn't helping the situation one bit.

Miku called her father to inform him of where she was going as he had requested for her to do. She didn't know if it was a necessity or if he was just worried, but she paid no mind to it. She dressed up and hopped on her motorcycle to drive to her favorite grocery store in the nearby area, not the one she and Luka had gone to. Perhaps it was strange to have a favorite store like that, but the nostalgia she associated with that place from back when her mom and dad were still together made it a favorable location to visit, even if briefly. Whilst shopping, Miku couldn't help but think of the things she might've needed to buy if Luka was still with her. She found herself looking at fish and bandages almost subconsciously and just so her heart would be content, she did end up buying more medical supplies than she would've otherwise needed.

Exiting the store, however, Miku was met with a familar car. She instantly recognized it as the one her dad drove and just as she thought about it, her father exited the vehicle and walked up to her, his face coming in focus as he was graced by the lights of the store. Miku looked up at him anxiously, wondering if whatever he was here to say or do was planned from the very beginning as his request for Miku to let him know about her whereabouts would've suggested. His face was rather soft, however, and Miku knew that wasn't the case. He said, with the slightest tinge of glee:

"You're going to see her."


End file.
